Resident Evil: A City In Ruin
by Rockstars721
Summary: The story of the Raccoon City Outbreak, spanning events from 1 and 2. Reviews are greatly appreciated!
1. Foreword

**Foreword**

I began writing this story in 2003. Today, we are already halfway through 2005. I guess the excitement from Outbreak File 2's release made me want to finish this story up, and when I started to read what I had written before, I got excited with what I could do with the story and the characters next.

I tried to include and incorporate characters from all the games, all the fan favorites. I twisted certain characters so that you can see their backgrounds and figure out what makes them tick in the games for the brief moments that you do get to see them and get to know them. Take Annette for example. Annette Birkin, sub-star of _Resident Evil 2_, is given brief screen time and is barely gotten to know by the audience. In _Resident Evil: A City In Ruin_, however, I take Annette as one of the main characters, only because she can have a very large and drastic impact on the plot. The same goes for the mayor's daughter, seen dead on Brian Iron's office table in _Resident Evil 2_. Also, Ada Wong is given a bit of back-story in this, as she is seen momentarily in a few spots doing what she does best: stealthy and seductive fighting.

As you can expect, after two years time, my writing style changed a little bit. So if it is the case that you notice a bit of a change after about Chapter 6 or 7, just know that it's only going to get better from there.

I hope you enjoy it… **happy reading and I hope you make it out alive.**

_Rockstars721_


	2. Prolouge

**Prologue**

            It wasn't until that fateful, autumn night in Raccoon that everything fell to pieces. Reports of the cannibal murders had continued to surface, and one by one citizens of Raccoon City began dying. Bodies were found mutilated, badly devoured, and the perpetrators were apparently human. This had been going on for quite some time, some accounts dating back into late May of 1998. 

The very first attack had been on a female hiker in the Arklay Mountains. She was found, in part, in the Arklay River. The authorities weren't ever to recover the rest of her body...

That was only the beginning, as one by one the townspeople began hearing reports of the cannibal murders becoming more frequent, more primal, and worst of all they were getting closer and closer to the suburbs of Raccoon. People were dying, and the Raccoon Police Department took steps into discovering what was really going on.

Be it that the police department was owned and operated under the direct supervision of one of Umbrella's more heinous employees, Brian Irons, the staged efforts were sabotaged and nothing was ever accomplished. 

Until July.

The Special Tactics and Rescue Squad was deployed in hopes of putting an end to the cannibal menace, but they failed. They did, however, succeed in destroying one of the laboratories that the famous pharmaceutical company Umbrella Inc. had been using to develop the cannibal disease, also known as the T Virus.

However, the townspeople were unsatisfied as the surviving STARS disappeared soon after July. The reports of the cannibal murders continued, and all evidence that STARS had been able to uncover was soon dispatched and never to be heard of again. They're cries of evidence fell onto deaf ears.

Until the murders reached the city.

_September 26th, 1998___

            In one brutal onslaught, the townspeople of Raccoon City were transformed into the blood thirsty beasts society has come to call 'zombies'. The T Virus reanimated the dead, bringing them back to life with the most basic of functions and needs, but dominating those needs is that of which to feed.

            The wheels of fate began to turn, and the fates of the damned souls in Raccoon City were sealed. Nothing could stop what had already begun. It was too late. The entire population of Raccoon City had been decimated, except for a few sole survivors of the first attacks.

            Raccoon City has melted away into a sweating pool of death and decay. There are only a few people left in this once bustling metropolis. With the will power they sustain, is it enough to over come the T Virus and leave the city in time? They have only a few days before the government will send a missile into Raccoon as a fail safe to cover up their tracks.

_…but not everyone is who they seem to be…_

_…and your best friend may turn out to be your worst foe…_

*           *           *


	3. Prolouge 2

**Prologue 2**

**Outbreak**

_September 22nd_

Years of mindless research had turned out to be child's play compared to what William Birkin had now perfected. He had intended for it to become the world's most powerful biological weapon, the most devastating substance ever introduced to man kind…it was to be superior to the primitive Tyrant-Virus in everyway…this new G-Virus…the God Virus…

However, he had never thought that in the end he would become his own experiment. The G-Virus was capable of turning its host into the most powerful being imaginable. When death occurs in a human, new cells are still reproduced and that was what the T-Virus played on. The new, improved and enhanced G-Virus provoked rapid cellular multiplication and a never-ending chain of mutation in the host. That was what made it the most powerful biological weapon imaginable: it made its host immortal.

But again, William Birkin had never imagined that he would become his own experiment… his own company had betrayed him, and he could do nothing now but wait to die in a pool of his own blood, while the agents stole his life's work.

Too entranced with his own destructive behavior, Birkin had neglected to hear the muffled sounds of footsteps and brief conversation outside his lab underneath Raccoon City. It was already too late, as the cold air from the passageways outside froze through his private lab.

"It's sheer perfection…my precious G-Virus…no one will ever take you away from me," He stared down at the numerous samples of the G-Virus, alongside a duplicate number of T-Virus samples. All he had to do now was load in the anti virus…

But it was too late. The cold air pinched at his neck and in that very instant William Birkin realized that everything he had worked for was about to come to an end. In a heartbeat he slammed shut the case that housed the samples and turned to run, but instead did nothing more than knock over his station chair. Two armed men entered his lab and on instinct William reached for his gun.

"There he is…" one of the men said, holding his rifle steady at the doctor. William felt sweat forming on his brow and lip, and slowly he took a step back, still aiming at the men with an uneasy caution. The grip on his work became tighter and his heart rate picked up steadily…silently praying for Annette, his wife, to distract the men long enough for him to escape, William muttered to the men words of anger.

"So you've finally come,"

"Doctor, we're here to collect the G-Virus sample…" the men moved forward, still holding their aim steady. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would ever go down this easy, and Umbrella had highly underestimated him if they thought so as well…

"Sorry, but I wont just hand over my life's work…" slowly backing up still, he felt something against his shoulder and then-

_-gunfire? No…just a canister that I-_

And then rapid sharp pains plummeted through him like a raging fire that he couldn't extinguish. Tearing through his right shoulder and lower chest, William could feel each bullet slap into his skin and pierce his insides. The pain was extreme but the undying love for his G-Virus kept him hanging on long enough to grasp the situations unfolding events.

"Stop it!" and then gunfire stopped, "You might hit the sample." And then they were ascending upon him, uncaring in every way. They knelt down to him, where he was still grasping the sterile case, and they took it from him, "That's it alright…okay, lets move out!"

And then they were leaving, and William couldn't stop them. Instead, he lie slumped over against his work station, bleeding to death. And the anger, the furious pain that washed through him…he had nearly forgotten that he still carried one last sample in his coat pocket…he wouldn't lose after all.

But before he could react, the lab door opened again but this time to a familiar voice and face.

"William…!"

It was Annette, only seconds too late…would she be able to help him in time? Should he leave the responsibility of the G-Virus with his wife… Never, Annette had been nothing but incompetent and he would never leave his most precious belonging with such a fragile being. He was the only person who could handle the power that this substance possessed.

"Oh my…hold on darling, I'm taking care of that bullet wound first." And in that same instant that the words left her lips she was gone again. William stood to his feet, slowly, and dragged his bleeding side along the lab station until he reached an empty syringe. Loading the G-Virus capsule into the chamber, he held the needle to his arm and squeezed…

Slowly, all consciousness faded and he slumped over and let the virus work its way throughout him. William shut his eyes and felt his heart beat slow down and come to an erratic stop… He had began to turn the wheels of destruction, and nothing would ever stop them…

…nothing could prepare them for the onslaught that would follow…

_September 23rd_

William was dead, or what once was William was dead at least. Now, nothing more than a mass of rippling muscle and tearing tissue, bleeding from every pore on his sweating body… Annette had watched the mutation occur, and it had taken her seconds to realize what her husband had done. He had injected himself with the G-Virus, and in effect had spread the T-Virus into the sewer system. In a few hours, the virus would contaminate every citizen of Raccoon City, the town just a mile above where she now stood.

In the monitor room of the underground lab, Annette placed a phone call to her daughter Sherry and told her to take shelter in the police station. She damned herself afterwards, for putting her daughter in the presence of the foul chief of police, Brian Irons. She had more phone calls to make after the one she placed to her daughter…she had to contact headquarters still, and a few of the branch offices to inform them of what had happened. A large-scale viral outbreak was about to occur.

_September 24th_

"I want an embryo of each bioorganic weapon, and a blood sample of the Tyrant weapon. Do you understand your orders?"

Nicholai Ginovaef stood and listened to his commands and nodded, saluted, and exited Spencer's chambers. As the leading Umbrella supervisor, he had full intentions of completing his mission flawlessly. Gaining embryonic specimens of the bioorganic weapons would be a simple task, however the recovery of Tyrant blood would prove to be more difficult. But he could do it…

Hunk's team that was sent to infiltrate Birkin's labs had been slain. The doctor had injected himself with the G-Virus and attacked the agents, murdering each and every one of them. The task of obtaining the T Virus had become a second priority; if Umbrella could gain the blood of the Tyrant, they could progress their experiments into bio weaponry further…that was his job.

…And he couldn't forget about the money that would come along with it. For only a few days work he would become a millionaire, and with the possibility of his bringing back an elusive STARS member's head on a platter, he could become a multi millionaire with a share in Umbrella's profits in the next quarter. Nicholai knew a bit about the Special Tactics And Rescue Squad, enough to know that they were not to be underestimated. They had been behind the Spencer Estate incident, and they were behind the possible exposure of the G Virus experiments. As a supervisor, it was Nicholai's sworn duty to protect the security of his chosen corporation…Umbrella.

**To Be Continued!**


	4. The Wheels of Fate

**Chapter 1**

**Wheels of Fate**

_September 26th_

            The weight of the heavy led pipe in Annette's weak hands was enough to make her want to fall over and die, but she knew it was her only chance. The stage two carrier approached her, jaws wide with outstretched arms pleading for a taste of her faint skin. She took a step back, her dusty lab coat swaying as she taunted the creature with the piece of utility in her sweating, gripped hands.

            With all her might, Annette swung the pipe at the creatures face and with a little luck, she prayed that it was enough.

            _I don't have enough strength…if only I had more time to get another shot… she thought to herself, but she knew that thinking harder wasn't going to make the effect of the pipe smashing against the carriers skull any more efficient. _Just a few doors away, and I'll get it…everything will be okay…__

            The carriers skull exploded in a rain of gore as the pipe smashed against its right temple. The zombie crumpled to the floor after sliding against the west wall, covering it with oozing blood and brain. Falling to the floor and twitching, the creature didn't move, and Annette knew that she had beaten it.

            _Now…___

_            She made her move, holding her left arm as tightly as she could. One of the stage threes, the licker, as William had called it, had bit her hard in her arm just before she had made it out of the monitor room._

            _Sneaky bastards…oh well, in a few days they're all going to be blown to shit anyways. _

            The morphine shots were wearing off, and she needed another fast. She hadn't slept for days, and  the more drugs she had in her the better she felt. William was gone, probably dead. She hadn't seen him in the lab levels for a day or two, which meant that he had probably been let up into the city.

            _Sherry…just be okay…be in the station, please…_

            Finally Annette made it to the lab where William had been days before, the day he had been assassinated. She scrambled to find the viles of the drugs she so eagerly craved, and finally she did. Tucked neatly underneath a stack of papers where she had hid them. She shot a quick glance to the east lab table where a pool of sticky dried blood lay, filling the lab with the scent of death and decay. It was William's blood, the shell casings of the automatic rounds he had been peppered with laying somewhere close by. She had only been a second too late…

            _In a day or two I'll blow this lab to shit anyways…I've got one of the G Samples, it doesn't matter any more, Umbrella wont have it. I'll make sure of it._

            She pressed down on a small clear syringe and felt a wave of relaxation hit in her the face like a ton of bricks. She exhaled and withdrew the needle from her arm. She smiled and giggled and let out a shriek of excitement. Finally the time had come. Umbrella would get what they deserved.

            Cindy was getting tired. She had been hiding in the back of the diner for a few hours, but she wanted so desperately to find out what was going on outside. The cries of the people hiding in the diner had died off about twenty minutes before, but still her conscience hadn't allowed her to go back outside. Ronald, the cook, had told her to hide in the office until he came to get her.

            He never came back, and that was over an hour ago.

            She was sweating like crazy, holding a wood plank in her hand, praying that the monsters that had overtaken the city didn't come looking for her. In all her twenty one years, never had she seen so much horror. The population of Raccoon had been transformed into the walking dead, and she didn't want to believe it. If there was one thing she could do, one thing at all, it would be to help the people she cared about most.

            _Except most of them are dead, Cindy, and you watched them die. You were scarred, and you ran back to the diner in hopes that maybe there would be someone to help, but there was no one except for Ronald and a few people who had managed to survive the onslaught._

            She sighed, knowing that her mind was telling the truth. She had just gotten off work when she saw the parade of monsters heading down the street and she had nearly been run over by a swarm of police cars that had showed up right on Main Street. There was a war waged against the once civilians. She took cover in the back of one of the cop cars for a few minutes, and that was when she met the man who had saved her life.

            _He said his name was Kevin, and that he had only been with the RPD for a few months…I wonder if he managed to survive…_

            He had told her to get to the diner as fast as she could, to take no one as anyone could be infected with the cannibal disease, and she may not be able to tell. So she did. She fled the supposed safety of the police car, and made it back to the diner. When she got there though, things got very ugly very fast and she didn't want to think about it anymore.

            _But you should, you should think about it some…you should know by now that in panic situations people become different, they become rancid and angry panicked people, not the calm people you thought you knew when you got them their coffee every afternoon._

_            One of the old men she used to serve every morning had seen her coming, she just knew it, but he had locked the front door as she approached, tiring with every running stride she took. She was still in her waitress scrubs, and her hair was matted from the smoke that had bellowed out of a burning oil tanker she had passed on Cole Street._

            She pressed her wet fingers against the front windows, and she remembered the old man's name.

            _…Carl…_

            He had pretended her never saw her, and from out of the corner of her eye Cindy had seen a monster rise out of the shadows, a civilian creature. He stumbled forward on one leg, the other shredded and gouged. His clothes were blood stained and he was missing an eye, and his upper lip seemed to be shredded. She could tell that he was one of the more further along monsters, his nails curving forward and steam rising slowly off his face beet red face. He was moving fast, and Cindy started to scream, starting to cry for help on the desolate burning street.

            _Then Ronald saw you and pushed Carl out of the way and let you in, thank God, or you may have been on of those-_

_            "Don't say it, Cindy," she whispered to herself, "You wont be one of those…you're going to get out of the city no matter what it takes…"_

            She stood up on two shaking feet, still holding the wood plank tight. She brushed her sandy blonde hair behind her ears, and pushed the lock on the wood door to the left, and then sliding the chain lock off its hinge. Grasping the handle, Cindy took a deep, hollow, raspy breath and entered the L shaped diner for what seemed like the first time in an eternity.

            In his lifetime, George had seen some pretty messed up people. He had operated on brain tumors, open heart surgery, and in all his glory he had even managed to sit through a few plastic surgeries. 

            _When I get out of this, I'm never gonna do another god damn lipo in my entire life…_

            He still had on his scrubs, a pair of blue surgeon pants and a matching short sleeve, but he had found a nurse jacket in one of the open lockers. All he could think about was what had gone wrong, what he could have done to prevent the slaughter that happened right before his eyes.

            George was locked inside of his private quarters, his personal office, knowing that there were things crawling around the hospital, _his hospital, that had once been his patients. He took a deep breath and reached for the hand gun he had found in the same open lockers that he found the coat in._

            _Never in my life…_

            He was unfamiliar with the model, and he let out a brief chuckle. He was unfamiliar with guns period, never having really touched one in his entire life. But, it wasn't too hard to figure out. There were what seemed to be about four or five bullets left in the chamber, and he had found a full clip in the coat pocket.

            _What was this guy thinking… George thought, reflecting on the stolen gun's owner. __A loaded pistol in a hospital…the nerve…_

            _CSH…CSH…SCRTCHH…_

            There was a sudden pounding, and then scratching on the door. George leveled the gun with shaking fingers, but then let out a sigh of relief as the noises died off. He sat back down, thinking softly to himself that it was probably another infected carrier…

            _…but what if it was a person, begging for help? What if someone had survived?! You need to help them…_

            "No…" George said quietly to himself. He knew that he should open the door to help, but what if the obvious was true? What if it was another monster…what if something out there was waiting for him to get out there, so it could kill him like it had killed the rest of the patients?

            It was true, there was something bigger than the regular virus carriers. George knew what happened to the people infected, he had seen that first hand. Hell, he even could label the stages. At first, infection caused a person to go unconscious until they rose again as the undead. Stage two involved progression into a steam breathing, razor clawed demon that he had only seen once.__

_            And that is all I need to see…it was the last thing the nurse saw, her left cheek slashed off and then her spine nearly completely severed in a few slashes…_

            George shuddered at the thought, but then slowly realized what he had seen when he saw the creature mutate into what he had named the stage three. The few that had seen the monsters had dubbed them the 'inside out men'. After what seemed like a few hours, the stage two monster he that had attacked the nurse mutated into a creature that seemed like a big cat.

            _We locked it in the medical office, and then it broke down door…it had changed drastically… he remembered quietly. The thing crouched like a cat, but had the tongue of a lizard and the claws like nothing he had ever seen on earth, nothing that __belonged._

            He remembered seeing his best friend's face as the inside out man's tongue warped out of it's mouth at lighting speed and wrapped at what seemed to be lighting fast speed around his neck. George tried to help him but the inside out man was too strong. In a speedy whipping motion, George saw the monster spin its tongue back and he _felt _Charlie's neck break in his own hands. Then, to George's horror, the inside out man popped Charlie's _head _off as if it was a balloon.

            In sheer and absolute fear, George had escaped back into his office just in time before the inside out man would have attacked him.

            _For sure, I would be dead now had I not escaped when I did…_

            George looked to his left. There was a window leading down into an alleyway just beside him. If he could climb out, he could probably make it to the back yard of the hospital and then past the fountains to Main street. The front yard would lead to the clock tower, and he knew from a few survivors of the first wave of attacks that the tower was far from safe.

            _Main street__ it is…_

            George grasped the gun and pocketed the clip. Taking a few short breathes, he headed for the window and pressed the pane upwards. It took more than a few tries, as it was jammed on something but in a snap of wood the frame broke and the glass cracked a bit, enough for him to be able to kick through it. In a shatter of glass and window pane, George busted through the window and found himself hurled back into the nightmare that was once Raccoon City.

            Yoko watched from the rooftop of the newspaper building as a helicopter raced through the star filled sky above Raccoon City. It was holding a large, heavy looking green canister labeled with a massive white letter N. She couldn't possibly think as to why it wouldn't be landing, it seemed to just hover above the streets. She felt a tear run down her cheek, and silently the said a prayer to herself in hopes that she could take another bold step onto the streets.

            It wasn't like she didn't belong in Raccoon City. She had been there on vacation, to visit her mother who had moved there recently. But when she got to the apartment, it had been ransacked and when she found her mother…

            _No…not your mother…she wasn't your mother._

            But she knew she was. The shadow that had _once _been her mother was just another zombie…

            _Straight out of the horror movies they showed in __Japan__…the zombie monsters that ate people…but those were just movies, this real life…_

            Yoko couldn't believe the thoughts she was thinking. There were _zombies in Raccoon, and her mother had become one of them._

            But why would Umbrella send a helicopter in? What did Umbrella have to do with the Raccoon disaster? Yoko looked up and saw the pilot's masked face, and then she realized she was close enough to see the pilots hands move. The copter hovered over the street for a moment, and just as she thought she should duck back into the big vent she found and was hiding in, the cylinder was ejected and spun violently towards the city street.

            There were a few monsters down on the street, and they were caked in dust and cement as the big red tube crashed to the ground. Pieces of it shattered off, and Yoko thought she saw what seemed to look like a-

            -_oh my god…_

            A big man stepped out of the tube. Yoke squinted her eyes in the darkness. She felt her hand cover her mouth in astonishment. The big man was at least eight or nine feet tall, maybe ten. She couldn't see any hair on his brown skin, but she couldn't really see any eyes either…

            _What in the world is that?!_

            It was wearing a big black trench coat, and she could feel the evil radiating off of the monster as if it were a sickness…or a glow of some kind. Yoko knew that this thing was bad, very bad, and that she really should get away as fast as she could…

            _But for some reason I cant move….its like I'm in a trance…this thing CANT be real…_

            The monster cracked its neck and then pressed forward, smashing through the bricks that led to the Arcade Mall alleyways. And then it was gone.

            _Oh man, this cant be good…this thing cant be good, she thought to herself, and she realized how stupid she was sounding. The thing was real. It was going after something, she could tell that much through the determination she felt off of it._

            But there was a question in her mind that she couldn't seem to rationalize.

            Why would Umbrella send something like that in?

*           *           *


	5. Team Search

**Chapter 2**

**Team Search**

The hard nosed reporter known as Alyssa Ashcroft stepped foot onto the roof of a deserted building in the heart of Raccoon City. Dressed neatly in a marroon business suit, Alyssa's straight blonde hair waved aimlessly in the cool breeze, but the smell of death and decay permeated her nose and made her close her eyes.

She thought she could erase the memories she had endured already. The visions of burning buildings, flesh eating monsters and her own friends and colleauges turning into vicious blood thirsty beasts.

Alyssa paused and remembered that she would be strong enough to overcome whatever came in her way, and that there was no way she was going to let _this_ beat her.

As she opened her eyes, in the distance she noticed a small figure, a human, peering over the edge of the roof. Alyssa had come here to maybe signal for a rescue, but in her heart she knew the reason she was here was to maybe find someone she could rely on other than herself. She moved cautiously forward and approached the girl carefully.

"Hey..." Alyssa murmered, almost in disbelief that there was anyone left still alive in this chaotic, death filled town.

The girl turned, and Alyssa smiled in relief. She was young, maybe twenty, but her eyes told a different story. The girl looked troubled, worried, and ultimately scared. But also, at the same time she looked intimidated.

"I came up here to look for help...do you know of anyone that might be looking for us?" Alyssa started, her calm voice easy in the cool wind. She realized her hair was beginning to become sticky,a combination of rain and her two day old hair spray.

The Chinese girl stood still, starring her down in the face like a fox waiting to pounce its prey. Something about her made Alyssa uneasy, very un-calm. She let out a deep sigh, and finally spoke.

"My name is Yoko." She purred, her voice soothing to Alyssa's ears.

_Right about now anything would be soothing, seeing as all I've heard for the past two days is the last dying cries of the living and moans of the walking dead._

"Alyssa," she said, pointing to herself. She stood up, brushed herself off and at the same time realized that there was a helicopter disappearing in the distance, "Hey wait a minute, why didn't you-"

Yoko cut her off, sharply, "That wasn't a rescue squad. It seems they were here to drop off a package."

"A package?" Alyssa turned back around, realizing the subtle tone in Yoko's voice had somewhat dissipated. She sounded distressed, "What kind of package?"

Yoko frowned, "A person."

Alyssa froze. She looked over the edge and saw a shattered red cylinder, like the ones in the pictures she had received from a contact inside William Birkin's laboratory.

_Jesus…Umbrella jettisoned a Tyrant to __Raccoon__City__…why on earth would they send in one of those…_

"That wasn't an ordinary person. What did it look like? Was it wearing anything?" Alyssa shrieked, realizing she was losing all her cool. If it was a Tyrant, Umbrella now had a few models to choose from. The T-00, like the one the STARS had encountered in the Spencer Estate, or the T-01 retriever models…or maybe something else, something she hadn't received information about.

_And if it was a retriever, it may be coming to retrieve your life, the way you have been fucking around with Umbrella's business and publishing internal documents in the press…smooth move Alyssa, never think before you act._

"It was wearing a black trench coat. It walked straight through that wall, right down there," Yoko pointed to the Arcade Mall. There was a gaping hole the size of…

_-too big to be a T-01-_

Alyssa realized it right away. The T-01's were only about seven feet tall, and judging from where she was standing now, the thing that walked through that wall must have had the strength and mass of a bulldozer…

_Think Alyssa, what else had Umbrella been up to…you should know this shit already, you should know you should know!_

"Lets go down and check it out. If we're fast, we should get past the monsters down there. I just want to see the canister they dropped it off in." Alyssa said, realizing how stupid she sounded. The streets were crawling with zombies, the newspaper building had been her refuge and obviously Yoko's as well, why on earth would they go back onto the streets?

"Okay, I'll come with you." Yoko said, smiling.

"Great, lets go then. You got a weapon?" Alyssa asked her hands on her hips. All she had was a handgun and her bruised, bloodied knuckles.

Yoko withdrew a small device from her coat pocket. It was a black and silver rectangular prism, with two metal spikes jutted out from one end. There was a switch on the bottom.

"It's a taser, an early model I found back in Japan, more of a self defense weapon. I've been able to take out a few of the zombies with it."

Silently laughing to herself, Alyssa nodded her head in approval, "Great, I should probably find some bulletsbefore we go down there. There has to be something in the abandoned offices that I haven't checked yet. Lets go see if we can find anything."

Alyssa headed back inside, noticing that Yoko followed slowly behind.

For some reason, Alyssa couldnt shake the feeling that this Yoko character wasn't telling her something…

**...meanwhile, at a Diner in Raccoon City...**

Kevin pushed the door of the diner open, hoping that he would find the girl who he'd sent there. His entire squad had been slaughtered, and he'd seen some good men be butchered by the cannibals. He couldn't shake the feeling that he could have done more to help them. But that was all over now; he didn't have time to think about that. If the girl was safe, he needed to do all he could to help get her out of the city.

The diner was quiet, calm and subtle. It was an L shape, seats lining the entire front wall and back. There was a center island that stretched from one end to the other, and behind it was a set of kitchen appliances. Everything seemed to be in working order. Kevin took a step forward, his boots crunching on pieces of broken glass-

broken glass covered in what seemed to be dry blood. What had happened here?

There was a creaking noise from the back, and Kevin knew he had to check it out. If the girl was still back there, he knew it was his duty to save her. She seemed like a sweet kid, probably not too much older than her early twenties. He thought she was gorgeous; she was blonde and fair skinned and very much the damsel in distress type. She was hiding in the back of his squad car when he'd first found her, and he'd told her to go back to the diner where she said she was working.

_…but you didn't see her again, and if she hadn't listened to you she had probably been killed on the streets, dying a painful, brutal death-_

"Shut up…" he whispered to himself, "Don't think that way."

He leveled his nine millimeter and lifted himself up onto the counter and hopped down, and felt something wet and gushy under his feet.

_Oh fuck!_

Kevin looked down, and realized the entire walkway was littered with body parts, covered in blood and he could even make out parts of a person's intestines. Clumps of hair littered the area, and suddenly the smell caught up with him. He was going to vomit, he just knew it.

"I found them like that a few minutes ago,"

Kevin spun around, and saw Cindy sitting, her face in her hands, sobbing. He jumped back over the counter, and headed in her direction, swallowing down bile as he did. He could feel the squish of blood and guts on the soles of his boots as he walked, and he felt like joining her in her cry as he headed towards her. He put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him.

She looked like hell. Her mascara had run down her cheeks through her tears. Her blonde hair was still pulled up into the pony tail it had been when he saw her, but her waitress outfit was torn and ash stained. He looked at her and smiled, but she shut her eyes again.

"Look, we need to get out of here as fast as we can. I don't know what's going on, but I know it's not good. The streets aren't safe, and most of the police are dead. Is there a back way out of this place?" Kevin asked, slowly and calmly in hopes that she would answer the same.

She nodded, "Yeah, but I bolted it shut a few minutes ago in case something came through when I wasn't there. I put a few boards up against it, so we'll have to find something to take the nails out with."

Out of the corner of his left eye, Kevin saw something press up against the glass of the diner. Another carrier, this one worse off than the rest of them. It was missing both arms and the skin off its forehead. Its eyes were gouged, and it was dressed in baggy jeans and what was left of a jean jacket and white tee. There was too much of its body missing to determine if it had been male or female. Blood seeped out of its wounds onto the glass, staining it with gore. Kevin looked away, but saw that Cindy hadn't taken her eyes off of the site.

"Listen, we have to find a way out of here fast. The back door, where is it?"

"Through the office, where I had been hiding."

"Can we lock the office door too?" Kevin asked quietly.

"Yes, there's a chain lock and a bolt." Cindy stood up and headed in the direction of the office, and their escape.

"Okay, let's move out of here and see if we can find a way out of the city. The police station might be safe for awhile, but I don't know. Our best bet is to find more survivors, and see if we can network a way out of town." Kevin moved past her as he was talking and held the door open for her. She walked through, and he felt a wave of frustration rush over him.

He didn't ask for any of this. He was planning on quitting his job anyways, thanks to that prick Brian Irons. But there was nothing he could do now. He was caught up in this mess, and he wanted out. There would be no more silent whining. He was going to escape Raccoon City if it was the last thing he did.

**...meanwhile, on the Raccoon City Streets...**

George hit the ground with a soft thud. He grunted as he felt his shoulder hit hard. Main Street was a total wreck. Overturned police cars and the remains of the RPD officers littered the smoke stained street. George didn't know what to think anymore, and he silently crept into an unlocked SWAT van and sealed the door shut behind him.

One thing had led to another in the race against time to find a cure for the cannibal disease. He had been overwhelmed with the rush of disease riddled patients all suffering the same symptoms in the past week. Everyday there were people who entered the Raccoon Hospital suffering from nausea, skin rashes and burning sensations in their eyes and mucus membranes. He had seen many of them die.

_Thank god for surgical masks…_

He didn't know what he was breathing in. He didn't know if the virus was airborne, or even if it was a virus at all. It could very well be a bacterial infection, but never in his life had he seen any bacteria that powerful. By day three, the entire hospital had been completely filled and when he tried to dial out to find more help, the lines were all dead.

_That was the twenty fifth…_

It was the 26th now, and he knew for sure that he was the only living doctor left from that hospital. It made him sick to know that everyone of his colleagues had died in the battle against the zombies. The thought made him cringe…

George silently slid into the driver's seat and locked the door. He had never been in a police vehicle before, but he knew that it wouldn't be too hard to figure out if he tried. The keys were still in the ignition, and just before he turned them he prayed there was still enough gas in the tank to get him as far away from the city as possible.

_Chk…chk…vroom!_

The van started, and George grinned. He immediately rolled the windows up and sealed himself in the van. He pressed down on the accelerator and rolled through the once bustling streets of Raccoon City. Corpses riddled the cement, and he couldn't get past them without mowing them over, and he felt sicker and sicker with every body he pressed into the concrete. But George knew that he was going to get out, he just knew it.

Finally there was enough clear space for him to floor it, and he did just that. The SWAT vehicle reached about thirty miles and hour, and a wide smile stretched across his face. A virus carrier popped up in front of him and George seemed to lose it for a second. He had seen so much carnage that watching the body slam into his windshield and roll of the roof didn't do so much as make his stomach roll.

_They killed my friends, now I kill them, here comes another one…_

The carrier in front of him didn't walk like the rest of them. Dressed in a large navy blue security coat, the black man seemed to not even notice the speeding van until it was too late. It took him just a split second of view for George to realize that the carrier in front of him-

_-oh fuck, that isn't a carrier!_

Slamming on his breaks, George prayed that he would stop before he rolled over the first living man he had seen in days.

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	6. Bloodshed

**Chapter 3**

**Bloodshed**

Alyssa pushed herself through the open window that led from the roof into the main editorial office where she worked. Yoko quickly followed her, her green leather coat brushing against the window pane and her backpack fitted tightly around her shoulders. Alyssa didn't know what to think of the girl, she had only known her for a few moments but already she made her uneasy.

"Lets see if we can find anything, but we'd better hurry. I want to check that canister out fast." Alyssa said, her eager reporter tone coming into play.

Yoko pointed to one of the corners of the trashed room. There was an overturned table top, papers rustling about everywhere in the wind. Alyssa could feel a bit of the rain drops coming in the closed window.

_A day in life in Raccoon City…_

Yoko headed for the door, but then stopped suddenly, just before she walked around the corner. Past the door she was standing in front of there was a small hallway that branched to a set of stairs, leading downstairs to the shipping station and front doors, but not without passing the heating and cooling system first…

_Oh no…what did she see…_

"What's the matter?" Alyssa asked, pressing forward-

and suddenly Yoko jerked her head back, looking horrified.

"Run! We have to get out of this building!" Yoko grabbed Alyssa by the arm and suddenly a wave of horrid gas smell rushed over Alyssa.

_-gas…oh shit…_

Alyssa and Yoko were running and then she saw what the young oriental had seen. There was a man, a soldier, crouched on the steps holding a lighter in his hand. He looked maniacal, disturbed and overwhelmed. He was covered in blood, and she could see the empty gun lying next to him. He was flipping the lighter open and shut, open and shut, and Alyssa immediately knew exactly what he was going to do-

_-suicide…_

"Hurry! He's gonna light up!" Yoko grabbed Alyssa and yanked her down the steps. And Allysa was just past him when she felt a sudden wave of heat rush over her. She dove, and felt the crushing steps on her neck and she ducked and fell. There were fire proof shudders just in front of her, and they were sliding-

_-shut! No!_

Yoko was already out and Alyssa could hear the screams of the frying soldier behind her.

_He killed himself! Yoko knew it right away, she tried to save me and now I'm going to die!_

SNAP!

The shudders suddenly fell faster, and Alyssa scrambled, the heat of the flame charring the back of her neck.

_Get out! Get out! OUT!_

And then she felt the coolness of the lobby, and the shudders crashed to the floor. The window shudders fell and the entire building was sealed off.

_No! I have to get outside! I have to see…the Tyrant is loose I have to know what it is!_

Without a word, Alyssa hopped to her feet and slammed her fists against the front door, which was now nothing more than a wall of silvery metal grooves. She cursed herself for not moving faster, for not using all the strength she had left. But she couldn't shake the image of the man who detonated himself and tried to fry her too without saying a single phrase of apology…

"Here, I can tell these shudders aren't going to be too hard to get through." Yoko said, and then there was the sound of glass breaking. Alyssa turned, and Yoko had snapped the glass that led to the fire extinguisher and axe deep in the north wall, "We can probably cut through it if we swing hard enough."

She held the heavy weapon in her hand and Alyssa stepped away, in awe of the will power this young girl possessed.

_More than you…_

CHANK! CHANK! CHANK! CHANK!

Swing after swing Yoko pounded the shudder and suddenly there was a gut wrenching scratching sound and the metal from one spot on the wall tore away.

"Its aluminum." Yoko said, "Look at the way it bends."

She pried it apart with the dull end of the axe and then gave it enough lee way for her hands to get through. Alyssa moved to help, but felt awkward.

_She seems very do it yourself…don't interrupt unless she asks._

Yoko turned the axe around when she got a hole big enough in the shudder and slammed the butt of the weapon into the door behind it. Wood splintered and the door obviously broke open, but they were still behind the shudder…

"After you," Yoko smiled, pointing to the somewhat large hole in the shudder, "Be careful, it may be sharp."

Alyssa grunted.

_You're gonna have to put forth a bit of effort now, aren't you Alyssa? Move your ass, you don't want to disappoint your new friend._

"Okay," she smiled and found herself already half way out. She climbed in backwards, her back against the shudder so she could grasp onto the upper part of the outside door as she pushed through. With her backside seated on the half inch of aluminum, Alyssa gave herself a sudden lurch backwards and tumbled a few feet to the city street below.

_Easier said than done..._

**_...meanwhile, on the Raccoon City Streets..._**

Mark hadn't seen the van until it was too late. He put his arms up in distress and saw suddenly as the SWAT vehicle overturned, rolling onto its side and tumbling a few feet past him. It did at least a three sixty on its side, and then landed, upside down, in a smoking heap of metal. He felt himself exhale, but then his stomach turned to knots when he realized that there had been someone _driving _that van…

_Help! It could be someone who could help! They're in a SWAT van, what makes you think they're not help?_

SWAT or no SWAT, he realized almost instantaneously that the police hadn't done much for the ill fated city. They had tried to help, but their efforts didn't do too well. They were killed immediately, and when they laughed at him for his low paying RPD security position and old age, he felt even less obligated to assist them in their definite failure.

_And this nut was gonna run you over._

Suddenly there was movement, and a body crept out of the van. He was coughing, and Mark rushed to his side.

"You alright?"

The man coughed again, and stood up. Mark had seen him before somewhere, but couldn't put a name to the face. He was tall, pale, with dark hair and thin lips. He was dressed in nurse scrubs and a hospital coat…

_Dr. G…_

"You're from the hospital, aren't you?" Mark said.

Dr. G laughed, and smiled at him. "Yes, you were one of my patients a while back, right? Pleased to meet you, and I'm sorry the circumstances weren't better. I thought you were another one of those zombies."

"Don't worry about it, its fine. Looks like our ride out of town is totaled though," Mark pointed to the overturned police unit and grinned, "We should find another way out of the city before its too late."

"I agree. There has to be another van with keys in it, something we can get out of town with."

_-out of town…no way out of town…the blockades are up._

"I think that will be easier said than done. Most of the cars were either sabotaged or destroyed in the fight, and if we can find one with keys, its gonna need the power of a bulldozer to get past the police blockades that are set up around the perimeter of the city." Mark said softly, "We're trapped in Raccoon."

**...deep below the streets, in the Raccoon City Sewers...**

Annette waded through the disgusting sewer water and pressed herself up onto the cement platform. It would only take a minute to get to the ladder that led to the turbine room. From there, she could take a flight up steps to another ladder that led to Iron's private office…

_past the turbines, up the steps, up the ladder, cross the cavern, another ladder and then to the Sanctuary…_

She mapped her route in her head, knowing that it was the best bet she had. She checked her cell phone again, seeing there was still no service, and she immediately blamed Irons for it.

"Help! Help me! Help me please!"

Suddenly there was a gasping cry for help, around the bend. Annette didn't want to help the crying female, and she didn't feel a bit of remorse. Another spy…

...but when she saw the girl, it wasn't a spy. It was a person, a girl she recognized.

_Emily Warren…the mayor's daughter. What is she doing down here?_

"Help me! Help me!"

She had seen Annette, and she was running for her. She was dressed in an immaculate white evening gown, her blonde hair still looking soft and beautiful. She _was_ beautiful.

"What are you doing down here? How did you get down here?" Annette calmly said, knowing that the girl would die soon anyways. No one of her pampered background would havethe will power or strength to live in the hell that had transformed Raccoon into the Night of The Living Dead.

"My names-" she started, but coughed. Suddenly she vomited streams of yellow bile into the sewer water. She stumbled through the foot deep sludge and climbed onto the stone path Annette was on and fell to her knees.

Annette helped her to her feet, "I know who you are. You're the mayor's daughter."

"Yes…" She nodded. "My dad…he's up on the surface. He told me to take the subway, but it derailed and I was thrown out...the whole thing is infested with these gigantic cockroach things, and zombies are everywhere! Theres a big one too, hiding somewhere deep in the system, I saw it before I got away from there.The power cut I guess, like everywhere else in the city. I found this manhole, and it led to the sewers so I've been hiding here…but something's following me!"

_…William…_

"We have to go now, hurry!"

"_Shrreeeeee!"_

Annette cringed. That wasn't William…she could tell that right away. But something was coming, and then the shadow appeared and Annette saw the monsters reflection.

"It's here!" Emily shrieked, "Help me!"

She scrambled to the door in front of her, not knowing where it led.

Annette looked back at the creature, and saw that it was nothing more than a big licker, a stage four. It had mutated past its original state, obviously having fed on the flesh of the living.

_And you were also one of its pricy meals…_

She looked down at her arm, now a deep crimson. The wound had clotted, and thank god she had the anti virus flowing through her system. She wouldn't get infected any time soon by the T Virus…

The licker grasped the cement wall and then Annette heard Emily scream. She turned, knowing she should really help the girl but not wanting to pass up the chance to see the licker in the wild.

"Help me!" the girl cried.

Annette suddenly felt the drugs kick in again.

_You don't need her. Kill her! Lock her in the room with the monsters she just crept through! If you go through the ventilation holes, you can get to the lift and up to the managers office and find another way to Irons office! You know what you have to do._

Letting out a silent chuckle, Annette lurched forward, knowing Emily wouldn't find the concealed ladder in the room she was in, and bolted it shut.

**...on the other side of the door...**

Emily felt a wave of pain rush over her gut as the terrible thing in front of her pierced her skin. There was a flip blade on the counter top by her side, and in all her agony she reached for it and gouged it through the red beast's face. In a wave of anguish, the monster flipped onto its back and its claws flew into the air and it shrieked, dead.

Blood gushed from her lower abs, and she felt dizzy. Falling nearly to the floor, she pushed herself against a wall, and felt it bend slightly.

_Hollow…_

Her hand slid across it as she felt herself going dark, and she found a latch. She grasped it and pushed it to the left and she had found a door. Opening it, a ladder was revealed and she felt a wave of relief rush over her. Smiling, Emily hoped silently that she had enough strength to find her father and make it out of the city alive.

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	7. Nemesis

**Chapter 4**

**Nemesis**

            Alyssa didn't know what to make of the large letter N on the front side of the demolished canister. She frowned, wishing she could understand but she knew in the back of her mind that this was one of Umbrella's newer creations…

            _Does that surprise you? You know about all Umbrella's monsters, the stage two's, threes and then the hunter series…what makes you think that they can't make other things? Other Tyrants?_

            "What is it?" Yoko had climbed through the hole in the aluminum, and had scrambled towards Alyssa. She shook her head in disbelief, "I don't understand…how could a person be air dropped in like that?"

            Suddenly there was gun fire that could be heard. Alyssa's head spun around, and she saw a man in green cargo pants and a yellow vest come springing out of the shadows. He was holding a nine millimeter handgun, and his sandy blonde hair was short and obviously smoke stained. His shirt was blood riddled, and his trembling fingers were practically dripping with sweat as he pulled the trigger.

            _Brad Vickers…you interviewed him a few times. He was at the Spencer Estate…the pilot who left the STARS in the __Arklay__Mountains__…_

            "Brad!" She shrieked, her maroon business suit tearing at her knees as she pressed her hands against the concrete and pushed herself to her feet. Yoko didn't move, seeing the shadow that drew out from behind an alleyway.

            "No, Alyssa get back! Get back!" Brad cried, the fear rising out of him in his high pitched voice. He put his hand on her shoulder, as if to protect her from the massive beast that lurched out in front of her on tree trunk legs.

            _Jesus…what is that?_

            The monster was at least nine feet tall, and equally as bulky. The thing was humanoid, dressed in a black trenchcoat and a utility belt strapped firmly around its wide waist. Wearing combat boots and thick leather gloves, Alyssa could make out something _writhing underneath his clothes…_

            _Tentacles…_

            And his bald face was missing one eye, a slit with stitches every half inch running from the back of its light brown scalp to mid cheek. And its mouth…

            _That lipless grin…those teeth…what is this thing?_

            And then it moved; a gigantic leap towards Alyssa and Brad. Alyssa shrieked, Brad pushed her out of the way and dove to the right. The massive fist of the creature slamming into the ground creating a rippling effect in the cement.

            "Alyssa! Head for the train station! Here are the jewels for the City Hall gate!" Suddenly two stones flew from Brad's hand, a green and blue, and Alyssa caught them, "Hurry!"

            Then the creature spoke, something Alyssa had never dreamed of.

            _They can create actual, speaking monsters now…_

            "_Stars…"_

            Yoko stood in wide eyed fear as the creature took a devastating swing at Brad, who ducked just a second early. And to her horror, instead of backing off, the Nemesis clenched his fists together and drew them into the air. In one devastating blow, he tried to pulverize Brad with an overhead crush. 

            "Brad look out!"

            Alyssa cried to Brad, who was still recuperating from the last dodge, when suddenly he jerked back and spread his legs in a v shape and the fists of the massive creature punched a hole in the cement right before him. Brad jumped to his feet and checked the monster, which stumbled backwards and buckled under its own weight. It crashed to the ground and Brad took off running.

            "_Stars…"_

            It cried, Brad already disappearing into the Arcade Mall. 

            Alyssa looked around, realizing that from where they were standing the newspaper building was back around the corner, the arcade mall in front of her and the City Hall gates right behind her. The Nemesis was getting to its feet and the girls knew they had to make their move now.

            "Yoko! Catch!" Alyssa threw the green jewel to her, "Put it in the right slot, quick!" Alyssa and Yoko dashed for the City Hall gates. There was a statue beside it, with a rainbow arrangement carved perfectly, etched in stone; there were seven colors, and two of them were missing their aligned stone. Yoko pushed the green in and Alyssa the blue.

            Suddenly the gates slid open and revealed a greenish colored door. Before Alyssa could make it through the door, she had to-

            _-have to take another look…I can't let this go…I NEED to know what it is!_

            And then when she turned around it was already gone, following Brad through the hole it had created in the wall when Yoko had seen it earlier.

            "Where did it go?" Yoko said, holding the large door open, beckoning Alyssa to follow.

            "I don't know, but I don't want to be around when it comes back," Alyssa said, still staring in its direction, "We need to move fast. Hopefully the cable car is still in tact. We can take it to the clock tower station. Maybe there we can signal for a rescue."

            "Good plan," Yoko said.

            "Lets get going."

            Alyssa still stood for a moment staring at the canister, wishing she had a camera so she could sell the picture that would probably be worth millions to the right buyer. But the Nemesis, as she had called it, was gone and so was Brad. Silently, she said a prayer for the lone STARS member and followed Yoko, then saying one for herself that she would make it out of this ordeal alive.

            Emily stumbled across a cold metal bridge, holding her gut as she did. It hadn't been easy to get there, a labyrinth of tunnels existing underneath the city streets had proved to be infested with the monsters.

            _And your bleeding…you're infected with the cannibal disease just like everyone else._

            "Uncle Brian!"

            Suddenly the man who she'd known her entire life, Brian Irons, the police chief, appeared climbing down a ladder from somewhere up above. She had never really been fond of him, and she knew there was something sick about him, but she needed him now more than ever. Emily stumbled forward, grasping a metal bar on the side of the platform for balance.

            "Uncle Brian! Help me! I've been hurt, I need a doctor or something…my stomach…something scratched me."

            Brian Irons turned as he hopped off from the ladder and turned, and suddenly Emily's hopes of recovery had faded away. He was holding a big gun, what looked like a shotgun or something, and was pointing it right at her.

            "Well, I'm surprised you've made it this far alive, Emily. I can't allow you to witness any more horror."

            _Oh god…please don't let this be it…please, I don't want to die._

            "Uncle Brian, what are you doing? Why are you pointing that at me! Just get away from me!"

            And then there was a big noise, a gunshot, and more pain ripped through her. Right at her waistline, Emily felt the bullet crush through her stomach and spray out through her back. She let out a yelp of pain and fell onto her back, knowing that she was dying. She breathed her last breath and opened her eyes, her blonde hair falling somewhat off the side of the platform.

            "I'm sorry it had to end like this, darling. Sleep now,"

            Uncle Brian whispered softly to her, and Emily shut her eyes.

            Annette scrambled up a ladder and found herself at yet another manhole. She pushed it open with all her might and to her surprise she was in a dog kennel, somewhere in the police station. 

            _Peachy…maybe Irons is here somewhere. He is who you want to see after all, isn't he? Ask him where Sherry is…she should be around somewhere. He may know if he hasn't shot her already._

            "Shut up," she whispered to herself as she shut the manhole again. There was a small pistol on the counter top next to the manhole, covered in dust but still loaded. She took it and held it her shivering hands. She smelled like shit, like pure sewage, and she felt like throwing up just by being by herself.

            _Could life get any worse?_

            Just as the thought left her mind, the kennel latch could be heard slamming off its hinges and suddenly one of the infected Cerberus leapt from its cage. Annette didn't have time to think, so she burst through the first door she saw and slammed it shut, the sound of the canines paws silently dissipating as she felt herself get weak.

            _Need…another shot…_

            She was losing her high…but there was no time to get back to the lab. She needed to find Irons to find where Sherry was…then she could go back.

            _But until then…_

            Annette crumpled to the floor in weakness and felt safe in the privacy of the dull hall. She shut her eyes and slept, handgun clenched tightly in her fist, and dreamed of when she and William would be back together. She would start her family then, William still working on his G Virus, Sherry at school, herself admiring her husband's precious work…all would be well…soon.

            Irons carried Emily's limp body back up the ladder, and through his sanctuary and then through the stone hall and into the elevator. He stared at her corpse, laughing silently to himself.

            _Cut the power…the phone lines, the cable…the blockades are up, the ammo is gone…everything is going according to plan._

            He grasped his shotgun in his hand, the shotgun that had decapitated so many undead…and so many living as well. He had taken a liking to hunting down the surviving police men in his mad rage and fury. They were so confused. Why were they dying? What for? Who was killing them?

            "Heh, those bastards never stood a chance." Irons chuckled as the elevator stopped on his private office floor. He had left the sliding door open, so he grasped Emily's armpits and dragged her through the hall, a trail of sticky black blood left behind. Finally reaching his office, he lay her on top of his desk in such a dramatic pose.

            She was lovely.

            _Such perfect skin, not a hint of imperfection. Hair a silky blonde, her gorgeous blue eyes. Rest for an eternity my darling, my true love…_

            He stroked her hair and it draped over the side of his desk in such a wonderful fashion. He couldn't have dreamed for anything more.

            Brian pushed a button for his music, the beautiful symphonic sounds of Mozart.

            "Nothing can happen now, everything is fine." He reassured himself.

            He drifted to sleep as the sounds of the orchestra bathed Emily and himself in such harmony. A smile wiped across his face as he assured himself again that no one would make it out of his city alive.

            Mark and George stood in front of the large cable car. There was a large fire burning to the left of them, and they had had to trek at least a good half hour to get to where they stood. There were a few oil canisters laying around, spilling their contents all over the cement station and making it impossible for them to really do any amount of damage to something that came through. The gunfire would be dangerous…

            "Lets check it out." Mark said, pushing the door open. He climbed up a small step and found the quaint little bus-like car quite clean. The power cord, fuse and oil all seemed to be in check, so Mark headed for the front of the train. 

            George was about to shut the door when suddenly two figures appeared from the darkness.

            _No…not now…_

            George leapt out, hoping the he would have enough strength to hold the monsters off for now.

            And the he heard talking, muffled sounds over the fire but still talking…__

_            Survivors!_

            "Hey! Hey! Over here! Are you okay?"

            George raced forward, looking at the two women who had just appeared. One was oriental, probably in her early twenties or late teens, and the other obviously a reporter, her identity tag naming her "Alyssa".

            "I didn't think we'd see anyone else alive," Alyssa said to him, "My names-"

            George cut her off and pointed to her nametag.

            She started again, obviously feeling a bit embarrassed, "Right…well this is Yoko. I'm a reporter for the Raccoon Press."

            George admired her. She was outgoing, bold, beautiful…__

_            Why don't you ask her on a date, George? Oh wait, yeah, that's right, the city is crawling with mutants. Keep your hormones in check before you get yourself in real trouble._

            "Are you injured? I'm a medic…I can treat your wounds if you're hurt."

            Alyssa shook her head.

            Yoko suddenly looked excited, and George couldn't imagine why.

            "The cable car. It goes to the clock tower, correct?" the tone in her voice was eager, not distressed but still sort of anxious, "If we get there, we can signal for a helicopter rescue. The clock tower should be a safe haven. If we can make it there, we can use the cable car as protection."

            George smiled at the girl.

            _Not twenty…probably younger. So sad she's got to be here in this…_

            "Good plan. Lets get going before something decides to make us its next meal." George said, smiling at the girl. She was probably very smart, and he was jealous. At twenty, where had he been?

            _Cant__ remember…everything is such a blur…_

            Once inside the cable car, George introduced Yoko and Alyssa to Mark, who had already began to activate the train. The fire in front of them hadn't been too bad, so they were going to go before it spread any more.

            Suddenly, after a moment of silence, Alyssa mentioned that there was something out in the streets, something she called a Tyrant. George didn't know how to understand this, but she said something about how everything was Umbrella's fault…could that possibly be true? Could Umbrella really be the cause of all the hell in Raccoon City?

            Kevin pushed through the RPD main doors, and Cindy followed. She was scarred as she had ever been. They had taken a long hike to where they were. Down main street, through the Kendo gun shop, the alleyways and then through a bus, riddled with corpses. Cindy didn't know what to think, she was so scarred. Never had she ever seen anything as horrendous as Raccoon City…

            _Just breathe…_

            "Theres a dog kennel, and then a sewer entrance that we can make it out of town in. We just need to-"

            _Bam! Bam! Bam!_

            "Cindy!" Kevin pushed Cindy down the small flight of the steps and she rolled, falling flat on her face. Kevin dodged the three bullets like a dancer, and then Cindy looked up to the second floor balcony that over looked the main hall and saw a woman standing, in a white coat. She was loading another clip into the pistol.

            "Kevin!" She cried, and he was already helping her to her feet, returning fire to the woman on the balcony. They raced across the large mat on the floor with the RPD insignia and finally made it to the receptionist desk, where Kevin pushed Cindy underneath the counter top for cover.

            "Stay here, I'm going to go find out who that woman was."

            "But I want to come with you." Cindy cried, "I can help, I won't get in your way."

            "No. You need to stay safe."

            "But this station isn't safe! How can you be sure?" She wailed, "Please, let me come with you Kevin?"

            He shrugged, "Fine, but hurry! She could be anywhere by now.

            Suddenly the door to the upstairs library opened and shut, and Kevin seemed to know exactly where she was headed-

            "Hurry!"

            There was an emergency ladder that had been released that led up to the second floor, and Kevin scaled it quickly, Cindy slowly following behind. He pulled her over, and together they raced after their attacker that had so suddenly disappeared.

*           *           *


	8. Bloodhound

**Chapter 5**

**Bloodhound**

          Bright yellow sparks flew from the metal wheels of the old fashioned and rusted cable car as it raced along its tracks, heading towards the old Clock Tower station. Yoko, Alyssa, Mark and George sat quiet; knowing the possibility that they wouldn't survive this ordeal was growing with every passing second. 

          Sweat was forming on Alyssa's upper brow and lip. She writhed underneath her tight fitting maroon business suit, anticipation filling her every nerve. Underneath one of the seats Alyssa had found a ._44 Magnum Revolver_, left probably by a military unit that had obviously used the cable car before they had been there…

          _You know that from the body in the next car…_

          When she had gone into the next cable car to check for supplies, she had found the corpse of a young soldier, part of his throat gouged out…the thought made her cringe.

          _…and the thought that you might not live to see tomorrow, isn't that much worse? Keep calm, Alyssa, just breathe…_

          But there was a feeling in her gut that told her that she might _not _make it to tomorrow, and she couldn't shake that. Something was going to happen…she could feel it.

          _CLANK! CLANK! CHK! CHK! CHK! CHK!_

          Suddenly there was a noise on the roof of the cable car, and Alyssa immediately sprung to her feet. Desperately frightened, the others stood up as well, bracing for whatever could possibly have latched itself to their means of escape.

          _You're the only one that knows about Umbrella's concoctions…think about what it could be. A Hunter? Chimera? One of the 'inside out men'? What could it be?_

          "What is it?" Yoko moaned anxiously. She had retrieved the taser weapon she said she found back home, crackling noises of electricity being omitted from it, "Alyssa?"

          "Quiet!" she snapped, thinking to herself.

          _Another T Virus creation?_ That thing that came from the capsule back by the newspaper building? A Tyrant?__

          The noises began again, and then suddenly Alyssa felt some kind of pressure, pushing against her face and her bones and everything around her. She felt like she was on a roller coaster, but…this was different.

          _Like you're being crushed…pressure…from where though?_

          Then there was a crack in one of the windows…

          _Oh God…they're gonna break!_

          "Get down!"

          _CSHH! CSHH! CSHH! CSHH!_

          Everyone dropped to the floor as soon as the first window caved in, glass shards flying everywhere and anywhere. Alyssa didn't know what had told her to hit the floor, but something did…and she was glad. One by one, each window caved in and sent splinters of sharp glass into the interior of the cable car.

          "What was that…what did that?" Mark shrieked as the last window was destroyed, unaware of the danger that still lurked above him. 

          _CHK! CHK! CHK! CHK!_

          Alyssa frowned, "I have a feeling we're about to find out."

          With that she withdrew the magnum and braced for attack.

          George was stunned as suddenly from the front end of the cable car, this _thing _appeared from nowhere. Small and hunched over like a cat, it was writhing and glimmering in the passing night air…shining with some kind of slime. Then it yelped and squealed, and stretched its paws out in front of it and put its hind legs up in the air.

          "What's it doing?" Mark asked, concerned.

          "Wait…" Alyssa responded, not sure what to do. She had her gun leveled at it, so George followed suit and did the same.

          Suddenly veins began to protrude from its disgusting skin, and its hind legs began to grow. The skin around its body didn't expand, and so it began to rip and tear as the creature's bones and muscle mutated. Its paws sprouted talons that looked like hooks and its tail extended a few feet and lay limp on the ground.

          "Back up…" Alyssa said, and so they listened. They backed up to the far wall, allowing the creature to take up the front space. George was terrified…this thing had potential to butcher them one at a time. They were trapped in the cable car; they had no escape while it was still moving.

          It continued to shape shift, now the size of a panther. Its face resembled nothing familiar anymore; instead it was just a heap of tangled flesh and muscle. Its two black eyes were outlined by bleeding sockets, and its hideous mouth was fitted with razor sharp teeth jutting out of swollen gums. There was no nose on the monster, just slits for nostrils…and all down the monsters back was its rib cage and spine, like an exoskeleton. 

          But then it did something again to shock the group…

          _What is that…?_

          Out of the slits for its nose spewed a greenish yellow liquid, steaming with some kind of gas. As it hit the floor of the still moving cable car, it began to erode the surface away until there was nothing left at all, and you could see the moving tracks below.

          "Acid…" Yoko shrieked, pressing her back firmly against the wall in terror.

          "Alyssa, what do we do?" Mark cried, noticing that the clock tower was only a few hundred yards away. 

          _We won't make it in time…this thing will be on us before we make it to the station…_

          Without hesitation, Alyssa responded.

          "Kill it."

          Claire Redfield hadn't heard from her brother in days. It wasn't like him to leave her like this, he hadn't sent his weekly checks for her tuition…he hadn't sent her pictures…he hadn't even called. It wasn't like him to do this.

          _After the Spencer Estate mission though…its not like Chris to be like himself period…_

          Claire had made up her mind. After her finals this week, she would take a trip down to Raccoon City to see her brother. She wanted to make sure that everything was okay. She had tried to call into town but there had been no answer. It was always…busy.

          And the news reports hadn't said much about Raccoon City lately. She was in New York, and Raccoon was only a few hundred miles away, but ever since earlier that year the news had been covering the cannibal reports pretty frequently. Except lately Raccoon City had seemed to have just…_fallen off the earth. _

          Shaking the thought off that her brother wasn't okay, Claire went back to her studies. In a few days she would go to Raccoon. She wanted to see Chris. She was sure he was okay. Raccoon City was okay. She was sure of it.

          _Sure of it._

          The cable car was slowing. Yoko didn't know what to do. The monster in front of her, this _Eliminator, was coming fast. Every time it seemed to breathe, the acid would shoot from its nose and litter the floor. It was literally disintegrating its surroundings as it moved, bathing the walls and the seats in the steaming liquid._

          _Oh god…I don't want to die here, not like this!_

          Just as the thought left her cluttered mind, a brilliant idea sprung into her head.

          There were oil canisters, for refills to the main tank, sitting underneath one of the seats. Yoko crouched down and grabbed the closest canister as Alyssa and George were peppering the monster with rounds.

          _BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!_

          The monster wasn't even being phased. It kept creeping forward. Yoko assumed its slow speed was due to its recent transformation from the small cat creature to this massive, lion-like thing that now was upon them.

          _Don't assume…you'll be lucky if this works…_

          She untwisted the cap, and suddenly the stench of gasoline filled the air. Alyssa saw her but didn't have time to ask what she was going to do. Yoko started to cover the floor in gasoline, trying so hard to coat the floor in the region the monster was coming. The Eliminator still didn't slow its pace as it continued its stead fast approach. In just a few seconds it would be on top of them.

          The cable car suddenly came to a screeching hault. Mark bolted to the door and frantically tried to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. The outside lock had been jammed, and there was no way of opening it except to get past the monster or find another way out.

          _And we don't have time to find another way!_

          "Hey! The door won't open!"

          Alyssa stopped firing for just one second, and threw Mark the broken broom handle that Yoko had made her back in the newspaper building, "Use this!"

          Mark caught it, and immediately jammed the butt of the stick into the large glass window of the door, sending glass chunks flying outwards. Mark started to clear the shards off of the pane as fast as he could.

          _Not fast enough…!_

          "Hurry, Alyssa! Go!"

          Taking her gaze off the Eliminator, she quickly headed for the door a few feet away and with Mark's help, she was able to hoist herself out and fall to the pavement on the opposite side. Yoko could see through the shattered windows as Alyssa stood up quickly and grabbed the latch on the door and slid it open. Mark instantaneously leapt out, gasping as he did.

          It was just Yoko and George and the Eliminator in the cable car now.

          "George! _Go! I know what to do!"_

          "Are you sure?" George said, slamming his other clip into the pistol. 

          Yoko nodded her head.

          George left without another word. It was just a foot away from Yoko now…

          _Now it's just you and me…_

          Yoko stared at the monster. It was looking at her, almost in admiration. Its beady black eyes were bleeding with black and red fluid. It slid forward, its claws grinding on the floor that it had nearly entirely wiped away in its wrath. It seemed to be sweating; a glaze soaked all over its body gave it a glistening feel. It slowed down, making its first real attack on the group…

          _…on me._

          She had no more time to think. This was her only chance.

          "Burn in hell," Yoko shouted without a hint of hesitation. As its claw came down, she ducked to the right and hurled the activated taser into the river of gasoline right under the Eliminator. She had a split second to throw herself out the open door as the entire car ignited into an inferno, engulfing the monster in its fury.

          Screaming, it was dead.

           Kevin burst through the wood double doors that led into the library, and instantaneously he heard gunshots ring out from the third floor balcony over looking the library. He raced for the stairs that led upwards, and just as he did he caught another glimpse of the woman who had attacked them.

          _Blonde…white coat…black pants…handgun…_

          He felt as though he was flying as he raced up the steps, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the woman open and shut the door to the wrap around balcony that over looked the main hall. Kevin was going as fast as he could, and when he finally reached the door he could already hear the woman going through another door on the other side.

          _Im losing her!_

          Cindy was far behind, probably just coming through the double doors. He had no time to lose, so he continued pressing forward and raced through the doorway; out onto the balcony that over looked the hall. The tile floor underneath him clicks against his flat soled shoes as he ran as fast as he could. This woman knew her way around, he assumed, as she seemed to have a clear pathway that she was following.

          Kevin pushed through the only other door on that floor and found himself in the cog room. There was a flight of stairs that had been retracted into the ceiling from the second floor of the room.

          _She climbed the stairs and while I was chasing her she raised them…_

           "Damnit…"

          She was gone.

          Annette gasped.

          She had managed to evade the two spies. She had made it to the cog room and jumped through the air chute back into the basement sub levels. She was coughing. She was choking. She was…

          _…alive! And I still have the G Virus…_

          Somewhere she had dropped her gun and so she didn't have that anymore, but if she had managed to get away from the Umbrella spies she could surely out run a pathetic zombie. She assured herself that she would be okay.

          There was a safe room to her right. She stumbled to her feet and entered it.

          The room was undecorated, littered with gardening tools and cleaning supplies, a large chest and a type writer. Annette shrugged off her surroundings and sat on the floor, putting her head in her hands. Her head pounded, and she ached for another shot. But she was too far away from the lab now. She couldn't go back anytime soon. She needed to find William, she needed to find Sherry, she needed to protect the G Virus and she needed to activate the fail safe program…

          _All before the end of this month. I need to make sure everything goes well, and I only have a few days to do it._

          Again Annette fell asleep. This time she prayed she wouldn't wake up.

**Paris****, **France****** _(September 26th)_**

          Deep within Umbrella headquarters, Spencer, the owner and operator of half of the Umbrella Corporation, sits with his hands folded in a dimly lit room. He is disgruntled, old, and grim. Wrinkles line every edge of his pale, oval face. His lips are cracked and he looks unsettled. He should be, as much, since the city in which most of the American based Umbrella operations took place had been officially placed under Martial Law.

          A personal assistant approaches him, carefully…

"Mr. Spencer, the government is ready to begin working out the plans for Raccoon City."

          "Fine." He grunts.

          "Sir…there is a problem…"

          "A problem?"

          "The first of the Eliminator series is dead."

          "What?" Spencer seems shocked.

          "It seems that there _were survivors of the infection." _

          "Survivors? Other than the police officers?" He begins to move from his chair.

          "Civilians…yes."

          "Fine…activate the Exterminator plan. If they make it past those silly blockades the military set up, then Umbrella is finished."

          "Done…anything else?"

          "Monitor the Nemesis Project; make sure _it _doesn't end up like the Eliminator."

          "Yes Sir…it's all taken care of."

          With that Spencer sits back in his chair, and closes his eyes. Everything had fallen apart.

          They were in a large courtyard, filled with trees and a large, ornamental statue of a goddess. The water that had once run through it and dripped into the huge pool before the group had dissipated, operating on the electricity that had been cut from Raccoon City.

          Crows lined the roof top of the Clock Tower. Cawing in the wind, Mark scowled at them. They're endless cries, no purpose behind them whatsoever.

          _Stupid bird…_

          "Listen…" Alyssa said, holding her hand for the group to pause, "Can u hear that?"

          Faintly, in the distance, there was the sound of gunfire. Like machine gun fire…

          _Tattattatataattaattattatatat!_

          It seemed to be getting louder…

          "It's coming from inside the clock tower!"

          Just as the words left Alyssa's raspy lips, a barrage of tiny holes burst through the rooftop where the crows had been perched. Bullets came crashing out from somewhere inside and the screams of men could be heard.

          _Jesus…_

          _Caw! Caw! Caw!_

          The crows immediately left their perch, some of them dropping like a ton of bricks to the pavement or grass below. Flying randomly around the night sky, the birds began acting erratically and instantly Mark knew they had to get out of the courtyard before…

          "Ahhhk!" 

          _A male voice, behind him…!_

          "Get off of _me!" George screamed, and Mark turned and saw one of the birds had come down on his back, pecking deeply into his neck. Mark rushed to George's side as Alyssa and Yoko darted for the large, ornamental doors leading into the interior of the clock tower. _

          The black bird had pushed its beak and claws deeply into George's skin, blood gushing from a few separate cuts. Mark grabbed the bird by its neck and threw it to the concrete and proceeded to take George by the shoulder. 

          "Move it!"

          Together, the two men rushed for the double doors, held open by Alyssa and Yoko.

          _God damn crows…what in the world?_

          George threw himself inside and crashed to the floor, collapsing and grasping his neck, gasping. Mark pushed the doors shut, and stood in pure awe. He pressed his back against the door and slid to the floor,  closing his eyes.

          _Just a bite…or a scratch…that's what the news said…_

_          And George was bleeding._

          He was bleeding.

          A bite or a scratch, penetrating the surface of the skin and getting into the blood stream. It was a viral infection, infecting the blood stream…

          And George was bleeding.

          _No…he couldn't be…_

**To Be Continued Soon!**


	9. Risky Business

**Chapter 6**

**Risky Business**

David King wasn't having the best of days. What had originated as an ordinary call into the Apple Inn had ended in a sickening display of gore. His head was throbbing, sweat was pouring off his dusty shoulders, and it took every last ounce of energy in his aching body to push through the inferno that was once Raccoon's premiere lodge.

He leveled his nine millimeter pistol at the rotting skull of the carrier in front of him.

"See you in hell…"

KABLAM!

The decaying human took the bullet between the eyes and a spray of red and globs of pasty brains spattered against the cheap wallpaper behind it. The monster slid down the wall and crumpled to the floor, dead.

David walked forward and pushed the door open to the Security Office. Finally, he felt as though he could take a breath of fresh air. He hadn't been able to feel like that in… well, since before this mess had happened.

David looked around the ordinary room and pulled a broom out of a maintenance closet. In a simple motion, he snapped it in half.

_Now…I need something heavy…_

His carpentry and handy man skills were coming in handy. Still dressed in his yellow work clothes, David felt dirtier than ever. But it never seemed to bother him. Even in this burning hotel, David still felt eerily comfortable. Tensions were rising and it seemed as though he was the only one still alive in this mess.

_But who's luckier… me to still be living? Or them…for not having to witness this shit…_

It was a question he had been asking himself for quite some time now, and he was getting tired of it. He knew one thing, and that was he had to get out of this place alive. He wasn't done living yet.

Out of the corner of his eye, David spotted something he could use. There was a small cinder block in the left corner of the room, by what seemed to be a thick sliding door. There was a statue with an indentation in it… and then it hit him.

_The red stone I found in the upstairs bedroom…_

His past had come back to haunt him in this mess, and the shimmering ruby he had discovered upstairs had found its way into his pocket. But for some reason, his gut told him it _belonged_ in that statue…

David took the cinderblock and wrapped a thick wad of duct tape to attach it to the broken broom handle. He had created a nice weapon for himself…heavy, but still worth breaking a few skulls with. David placed the red jewel in the head of the statue, and to his awe the sliding door began to move, dust falling from the ceiling.

Light and heat entered the room almost immediately, and David found himself in the Apple Inn front lobby. He wasn't the only one who had made it here though…

_The red monsters… the lickers… tons of them. Why here?_

David took the chance and pressed forward, sweat beads rolling down his temples and dripping down to his shoulders. The evil grin of the monsters were no match for his hammer, and the instant the first licker moved towards him David came down on its exposed brain, and with a loud _thud_, the licker was alive no more. It's body, nothing more than a mound of flesh and mangled tissue, writhed and squirmed before a gush of blood erupted. The monster slithered into its final pose and died.

"Easy…"

David was getting hot. The entire room was coated in flames. His eyes were burning from the heat and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He coughed and gagged from the intense smoke, but knew that the exit was just a few yards away.

By the time he had made it to the escape ladder, two more lickers had faced their gory deaths and David was feeling more and more relieved.

"Almost there…" he puffed as he made his way to the exit.

_Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!_

Something up above…

"Fuck it…" he grunted. He had no time to waste; he wasn't going to make it much longer in this place. He trudged forward, the hallway's heat intensifying on his flesh.

_Cshhh!_

The ceiling tiles above him hit the floor and dust erupted everywhere, to reveal the body of what seemed to be a woman with dark black, singed hair. She was just hanging there…_limp…_

"What the hell…?" David asked out loud, "Hey! You! Are you okay?"

His voice was raspy, and since this mess he hadn't done much talking. His own voice started to sound strange to him…

"Hey! I'll get you down from-"

-and then the woman's body snapped backwards and David saw what it truly was. It was the _mother licker_, the reason why all the others were congregating. She was bigger than the others, with the strength and stamina of ten of her children… David cursed himself for being so eager to get out…but he had no choice.

David took his first swing.

**…meanwhile, at the Clock Tower…**

"Well what are we supposed to do? He's been bit. He can't stay with us."

Alyssa knew the way she sounded came off rough and tough to take…but she wasn't going to keep a carrier with her. George Hamilton was a great doctor. Nevertheless, he would be nothing more than a burden if he was to become a carrier.

Her instincts told her that it was the right thing to do…to get him as far away from them as possible, or possibly even…

"-look…I'll be fine. Back at the hospital there's a supposed cure for this cannibal disease… it's in one of the basements. There's a base formula and a few other ingredients, but they're all in the Raccoon Hospital, not far from here. If we make it there, we can fix this mess…" George pawed at the wound in his neck.

"Fine." Alyssa agreed, trying to sound optimistic, "But George… if things get bad…" she stepped closer to him, "I won't hesitate to kill you."

**…elsewhere, at the Dead Factory…**

Ada Wong slithered down the side of the Raccoon City Dead Factory. She was trying to collect data samples for Wesker, but in her attempt to be stealthy and agile she had accidentally released the Drain Demon's and Brain Suckers…

_Smooth move, Ms. 007…_

She cursed herself for her inane actions prior to this little excursion. Dressed in a black cat suit with weaponry strapped to every inch of her, Ada knew that she would be prepared for anything that would get in her way. But the business at hand… Wesker's plan was deceitful, wicked and wrong… but it was cold hard cash. Should she feel guilty? She didn't. Work was work, and money was money. That's what she cared about, after all.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Her radio was receiving a transmission. She pressed the receive button and listened carefully to her instructions.

"Have you collected the T Sample."

_Wesker…_

"I've got the T Sample. I'm still working on obtaining the G Sample, the T-Blood and Nemesis parasite…"

"I've just gotten word that old bastard Spencer has activated the _Eliminator_ program, so be on your guard."

"Wesker, dear, do you really have to tell _me_ to be on _my_ guard? After all, this isn't my first mission for you, is it?"

"I knew I could count on you."

Ada landed on bridge near the dead factory. Water gushed below her and she was distracted by the cool night air. After Wesker's 'death' at the Spencer Mansion, she had felt an uneasy alliance grow between them. For some reason, she felt like he really trusted her, and she felt the same way about him.

"Don't worry about the Nemesis parasite, unless for some reason the project is aborted or slain. It would be too dangerous to try to obtain."

"Alright, then I'll keep working."

"Good. I'll contact you as soon as word comes in about the status of the G Virus. Contact me as soon as you discover that reporter, Ben, in the Raccoon Police Station basement holding cells. I'll be waiting."

Ada put the radio back in her side pouch. In her backpack was a form fitting red dress she would wear when she made it to the police station. Her cover up story was that she was looking for her boyfriend John, but in all truth she needed information out of the reporter, so that she would be able to document more on the T Virus. Everything seemed to be going as planned.

Retrieving a semi automatic pistol from her hip, Ada loaded the weapon and opened the steel double doors to the Dead Factory, unknowing of the dangers that lie in the days ahead.

**…meanwhile, at Birkin's Laboratory…**

Annette Birkin finally made it back to her husband's laboratory. She stepped into the Resting Station near the turn table. It had been a hike after the spies had nearly gotten the virus. She lay down on the crunchy, plastic coated black bed in the dank, empty room and drifted slowly to sleep. Her head was killing her. She held the dangerous G-virus close and prayed to God that her daughter, Sherry, was safe. That's all she wanted, truly. That, and for her family to be together again. Dreams filled Annette's mind and her troubles disappeared.

**…meanwhile, in the ****Raccoon****City**** streets…**

The hospital was close enough to the clock tower that they would make it in a few minutes. The clock tower was empty for the most part. They had seen nothing, but Yoko felt that there were monsters lurking around every corner. She had found a pistol in the hands of a dead soldier, and a packet of bullets which she put in her backpack. Together, Mark, Alyssa, George and Yoko trudged forward to the hospital.

Once outside, they walked through an alley way full of fuel canisters and dangerous gas tanks. To the left was the Raccoon City Hospital, still lit up with the luminous sign in front. The sign read "hospital", but as typical as it was to feel safe when one heard that word, for some reason Yoko felt uneasy. There seemed to be something haunting about this place.

To the right was the Raccoon City park, and Yoko could only dream of the terrors that hid in the trees. The howls of monsters in the night began to eat at Yoko's soul, and she began to feel extremely uneasy. She stopped walking.

"Hey there…" Mark stopped, his burly figure illuminated in the night sky, cold wind blowing against his face making him shiver, "Let's get going."

Pressured into continuing, Yoko moved. Something about this hospital though…something felt disturbing. She knew they were getting themselves into something terrible…but she didn't have the heart to tell her comrades.

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	10. Betrayal

**Chapter 7**

**Betrayal **

Monica had never truly understood why Umbrella had become such a super power as it had. The front that they proposed to the public, one of decency, made her skin crawl because she knew deep down what was really going on underneath the city…she was working with the foul things that Umbrella had created, the numerous viruses and parasites and serums…eventually the public would learn about these atrocities and she would take full advantage of it when the time came.

"Monica…stop, think about what you're going to do-"

Without hesitation Monica launched a bullet into the chest of a fellow scientist who had attempted to stop her in her mission. Ever since William Birkin's viruses were spread into the city, it had become a goal of hers to milk the situation for all it was worth. She held in one hand a smoking pistol and in the other…

…a sterile transfer case full of Tyrant and God Virus samples. She had taken a few vials of the Devil Vaccine, but the Daylight serum to cure the Tyrant plague was harder to come by…she knew that it didn't really matter though, because the three samples she had were more than enough to make her wildest dreams come true. The mindless amount of money she could get when she sold the samples…

The scientist's body pressed against a glass holding chamber for the G-Imago, one of the specimens William Birkin had generated with the God Virus. But his stupid experiments didn't matter anymore. In a few days the lab would become nothing but a smoking crater in the earths crust. Monica laughed a little bit, because she realized that the immense amount of anger and hatred towards that man she had had for years would finally be dealt out to him. Everything Birkin worked for would be obliterated. Her laugh twisted into a wicked grin.

Blood smeared down the chamber as the man collapsed to the floor. Monica was still holding her gun outstretched, and finally she let her hand down. She walked forward and pressed her hand against the crimson red liquid spattered across the glass, washing it away with a stomach turning wet sound. Still smiling, she whispered to herself, "There's no turning back now…but it will all be worth it soon."

Turning back to look at the door, Monica held the virus samples tight in her hand and clenched the gun with all her strength. She would bring the ultimate downfall to Umbrella, and just the simple thought made the devastating situation seem all that much better.

** …meanwhile, back in Birkin's Laboratory…**

Annette awoke from her sleep in the Resting Station and made her way to the southern wing lab, the one that William had used on occasion with one of the younger female scientists, Monica. Annette had never liked Monica, due to her lack of self-control and unnatural way of attracting her husband to her. Annette felt the weight of the G Virus sample in her hand and silently prayed that she would be able to get even with Monica before the night was over.

Each of the different wings of the massive, multi level lab was identical to one another, and Annette knew how easy it was to get lost in the industrial labyrinth. She prayed that if Monica was still alive that she was wandering aimlessly about, eventually falling prey to one of the stage 2 creations. Those vicious monsters were nothing more than double dosed Tyrant virus cases. Annette knew how to dispose of them, by striking their exposed cerebral cord. But their whip like tongue would make it difficult for her to get a good shot, she knew, due to the numerous human tests William had done…she prayed she wouldn't run into one, but she knew that if she did she would be prepared.

Finally making it to the monitor room, only a few doors away from the lab, Annette noticed movement on one of the upper level screens.

_…Monica!_

The girl was heading towards the train platform and immediately Annette knew what she was planning. She saw the metal sterile case in her hand, and realized that the girl had stolen the God Virus. She was taking William's legacy away…Annette could never let that happen, she would preserve whatever she could. She was going to make Monica's stay in William's lab as miserable as possible.

She turned for the lab, and when she finally arrived the first thing she noticed was the bleeding body of one of the newer male scientists. He had several bullet wounds in his chest, and was still bleeding from a few of them. Blood had smeared across the holding chamber for the premature G Imago. To confirm her theories about what Monica was planning, Annette looked to the viral chamber and saw that it was empty.

She was right; Monica was going to steal the virus. And she was doing it as she spoke, unless Annette could stop her.

Heading to the temperature control board, Annette pressed a few keys and grabbed the control level on the board and moved it down, signaling a rapid decrease in pressure. Just as she had done so she could feel the cold air whistling throughout the vents. But it wouldn't be enough…she needed to make sure that Monica would be frozen in the lab…

_…frozen…_

With a few more keystrokes Annette activated the sprinkler system. She knew exactly what she was going to do, and she knew exactly how she was going to do it. Even if it killed her as well, she was going to make sure that the God Virus didn't leave the premises.

_…but there's still one more thing I can do…_

She headed towards the G-Imago holding chamber, past the crumpled body of the deceased scientist. Annette tapped a key code into the timed-release lock, and gave herself one and a half minutes to evacuate the zone. The G-Imago would be released and it would be searching for a host. Annette had one person in mind, and she knew that the Imago would go right for the ripe female. Monica carried the G Virus in her possession. The spawn of the virus were highly attracted to any form of G Virus, and it would sense out the origin of its creation quickly. And then…

…and then she wouldn't have to worry about Monica anymore. She could watch the slimy, pink creature work its way down her throat and bury itself deep within her chest, absorbing her DNA. And then…

_…it would mutate…_

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	11. The Cure

**Chapter 8**

**The Cure**

With one final heaving blow, David took the edge of his hammer and laid it heavily down upon the Regis Lickers mangled, contorted, steam breathing face. Brains, blood and thick gray goop spattered in no certain pattern against the cheap wallpaper of the Apple Inn Front Lobby. The _mother licker_ was dead.

David took no more time to accept the slaying that he just committed, and instead raced forward, past the bloody mess and towards the front door.

_Tsssssssss! KABOOOOOM!_

Suddenly, a hissing noise followed by a catastrophic _boom_ thundered throughout the Apple Inn, and all sorts of dust and debris began pouring in from the ceiling.

_Ten more feet…I'll be out of here…_

The glass doors of the front lobby were only a few feet away but it felt like it would take an eternity to reach them. The boiler in the basement had been the cause of the fire in the hotel, and it seemed only so ironic that now it would make its final devastating blow. The explosion had crippled the structure, and it would collapse at any moment.

"Finally…"

David reached the front doors, grabbed the handles and-

_Kachunk! Kachunk!_

"No!"

The ceiling began to collapse; the walls began to cave inwards. Smoke bellowed in from all directions, and David felt himself get weak. He could barely see, he could barely _breathe_, and at this point he could barely _think_. His head was pounding, sweat beads were rolling down his face and all he wanted was a breath of fresh air…

_I probably won't get that now…I'm going to die in here if my luck doesn't change this very second…_

Glass shards erupted from in front of him and he heard what he was convinced to be the voice of God.

"You made it! C'mon let's get out of here!"

Strong hands grabbed David's arm and yanked him forward, out of the burning hotel. The weight of the ceiling finally buckled and came crashing down, David barely escaping with the blessings that were his legs. His face hit the cement outside of the Apple Inn hard, and he turned around just in time to see the whole building begin to cave in on itself.

But he was still alive.

**…meanwhile, at the ****Raccoon****City****Hospital****…**

The Raccoon City Hospital felt cold, and eerily sterile. Alyssa and the rest of her small team pressed forward in hopes of finding a cure for the deadly T Virus. In the back of her mind, she knew they probably wouldn't ever find it here. In fact, she was sure of it. If the cure was so easy to come by, then why wouldn't it have been given out to the citizens of Raccoon sooner?

_Cshh…cshh…csh…_

Alyssa heard footsteps, towards the back of the room and around a corner, near the luminous light of a vending machine. Shadows moved in the distance and a zombie stumbled into view, eminently lit by the surrounding light but still ever so dangerous. Alyssa leveled her gun, but then something strange happened.

_Woosh!_

Something moved in the distance and seemed to fly directly over the zombie, disappearing almost instantaneously. Not more than three seconds after it seemed to have vanished, blood poured from the neck of the carrier and its rotting head rolled off to the side, landing on the floor and exploding in an array of brains and gore.

"What the hell!" Alyssa shrieked.

A green, lizard like creature emerged from the shadows, crawling along the wall and staring strictly at the group with beady yellow cat like eyes.

"_Heeeeeerah!_"

It shrieked at them, and pounced off the wall at lightning speed. It landed on the floor, extending its arms outward, almost like it was stretching its muscles, and extended its thick black claws. It looked almost reptilian, but seemed to have the reflexes of a cat or some kind of feline.

"No time to waste, MOVE!" Alyssa screamed, leveling her pistol in it's direction.

"Follow me!" George yelled, moving to a door not far from where they stood.

_Bam! Bam! Bambambam!_

Alyssa fired off five rounds into the monsters face and was the last one to enter the next room. She slammed the door behind her and locked it, turning around to look at the rest of her team.

"What the hell was that thing…" Alyssa panted, scared out of her mind, "I mean… it took the head clear off of that zombie back there."

"They're hunters…" Yoko murmured, "I don't know why…I know that somehow… I feel like I know what they are…but I can't remember."

"What are you talking about girl? Hunters? That thing isn't a fucking Hunter; it's an oversized lizard, that's what it is. Let's get that damn vaccine made and get the hell out of here." Alyssa stammered forward in search of the cure.

**…meanwhile, on the ****Raccoon****City**** Streets…**

_SMASH!_

The police van overturned and spun violently out of control. David smashed his forehead against the glass of one of the back windows. The van had collided with another vehicle moving slowly and probably operated by someone who had drifted into the daze of the T Virus. The van flipped upside down and rolled three or four times before finally landing right side up, smashed tightly against a brick wall and light post.

Blood trickled down David's face, and when he finally came to, he looked in the front seat to see shards of glass permanently embedded in the faces of the two officers who had rescued him from the Apple Inn. Again, David was alone, and this time he had no idea where he was going to go next.

**…elsewhere, on ****Main Street****…**

Linda shouted vehemently at Rodriguez who stood boldly in her path.

"Let me go!" She shouted, her tone intensifying.

"No…" he screamed back, over the whistle of a helicopters spiraling blades. He was a Supervisor for the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service, and his sole instruction was to make sure that the 'package' and Linda were transported to safety immediately, "It's too dangerous to go back now."

"But I left something very important back there. Trust me, it's gonna be a big help to us later!" Linda's hair blew in the increasing speed of the wind, and her voice became muffled. Her beige Umbrella Research uniform fit snuggly to her body, and she was growing uncomfortable, "If the Daylight sample is destroyed, then you can kiss the world you live in goodbye. It's the only thing that can stop the cannibal disease, trust me I have to get it!"

"Fine, but understand one thing… when this chopper takes off, it's leaving with our without you, you got that? If its your ass or mine, you better believe that my ass is on that chopper, baby." Rodriguez was become annoyed, as he wanted out of this freakish city now, not later.

"I'll be right back."

With that, Linda raced back to the Umbrella Center in the heart of Raccoon City. She needed to retrieve the Daylight sample, and she would risk her life to do it.

**…meanwhile, at the ****Raccoon****City****Hospital****…**

An elevator took Yoko, Mark, George and Alyssa into the basement, where George directed them towards a machine in the back. There were giant canisters lined up along the walls of the basement, filled by large, frog like organisms that resembled the monster from the front lobby.

Yoko shuddered, violently, as if she was being reminded of something terrible. Images rushed through her mind of pain, suffering, destruction and death, caused by one person, one corporation, one deadly virus and one terrible mistake…

She shut her eyes and held them tightly closed. The images faded away, and she regrouped her thoughts and caught up with Mark, who had silently been keeping a watchful eye over her. She was a young 18, but her wisdom grew far beyond her years.

"This is the Medium Base, and if I just…" George set the sample into a machine, which rotated it into a small canister somewhere else, inside the same machine. A small humming noise was heard, and the Medium Base was ejected, now containing the Vaccine Medium, "Here we are…"

George took the sample into his hand and walked over to a different part of the cold, dimly lit lab, "And…" he set the sample into a new machine, and another humming noise was heard, "And as Archimedes once said…_Eureka_"

The medium ejected, now glowing with a bright light.

"Daylight…" George said, inserting it into a syringe. He pressed the needle against his forearm and injected it, replaced the needle and injected Alyssa, and so forth.

"Well my friends…" George said, "We are now, in theory, completely immune to the effects of the T Virus."

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	12. The Exterminator

**Chapter 9**

**The Exterminator**

Monica thought it was strange how suddenly the lab seemed to turn completely icy. Then, as she began to think about what she was doing, it didn't seem too unlikely that betrayal was too far out of the question. But who? Who would try to freeze her to death in the lab? As far as she knew, there was no one left alive in the desolate experimentation chamber, hidden miles underneath Raccoon City.

Clutching the G Virus embryo in her hand, she raced back from the frozen solid platform to try to turn the heat back on in the control room, a few floors up. Monica knew she didn't have a whole lot of time before she too would become a block of ice with as cold as things had gotten. It seemed as if things had dropped below freezing point in a matter of seconds.

But as she got to running, things started to race throughout her mind. Who had _she _double-crossed during her time working with Birkin? The man was dead, she was sure of it. But his wife…

"Annette…"

And almost in the same second that she came to the realization of who had tried to seal her fate, the electronic door in front of her slid open, ice falling to the floor, revealing the woman she knew to be the cause of her icy surroundings, with a gun leveled directly at her chest.

**…meanwhile, at the Raccoon City Police Department…**

Kevin and Cindy opened the front gates and stepped outside into the brisk, but cool night air. Cindy felt chills go down her spine, the sounds created by the monsters in the night making her sweat. She tried to brush it off but she couldn't, and after the chase with the woman with the gun, Cindy didn't know what to expect. She felt bad for slowing Kevin down, and probably keeping him from catching the woman, but she didn't want to feel alone. She had felt that way for long enough.

"We should just keep moving, there's nothing left for us here. There's a small delivery shaft below where we are standing right now that leads into the underground parking garage. We can probably find a car there that we can drive out of the city." Kevin said, sounding confident of their situation, "Maybe if we get far enough away from here, we can find someone who can help us. Sound like a plan?"

He asked as if Cindy had any chance of saying no. What did she have to offer to this pairing anyways? He was the one with the gun; he was the one with the athleticism that provided their small chance of survival. She was just the young waitress who happened to become attached to him.

_Attached? You're starting to sound like you're developing feelings for him…_

Cindy couldn't deny that she appreciated all the things that he had done for her. He had saved her life, helped her find shelter and therefore kept her alive in this burning city. She owed him her life.

Cindy nodded her head in agreement to Kevin's plan and ran softly behind him, through the oriental courtyard and down a small flight of steps, into a small space no wider than 2 feet.

_Into the darkness again,_ she thought softly to herself, _story of my life…_

**…elsewhere, at the Umbrella Research and ****Development****Center****, in Downtown Raccoon…**

_THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!_

David came down hard on the chin of a carrier, blood spraying neatly across an Umbrella logo painted on the wall. With a sudden _CRACK_, the head of the zombie exploded in an array of guts, and David dropped the piece of timber he had been swinging to the ground. He looked at the man he had just rescued, Carter, and helped him up.

"You alright buddy?" He said, as he picked the man up off his feet. He was an Umbrella Researcher, one of high status, as David could tell from his ID tag.

"Yes sir! Thank you, I owe you one." Carter said, smiling. His dorky glasses and neat hair cut gave David the impression the man didn't get out much, and therefore was pretty much harmless. But still something made him uneasy about his character, and David couldn't help but keep an eye on him.

As David began to investigate the rest of the room they were in, the front sliding doors opened, a rush of cool air entering the room. A black woman came in, and David instantaneously grabbed the timber off the ground and readied an attack.

"Wait!" Carter jumped in front of the woman, "She's a human!"

David stopped.

"Carter!" the woman said, sounding as if she was in surprise he was still alive, "Where were you when the evacuation chopper arrived? I told Rodriguez to wait for me back there. Do you have the sample on you?"

"The Daylight sample? No, I don't… but I'm sure there's another capsule in the lab. We just need to get over there and get it, shouldn't be too hard." Carter smiled, "Then we can get out of here."

She looked at David, "Care to introduce me to your friend?"

David grunted at his new companion, "David." He said, introducing himself and extending his hand.

"My name is Linda. If you want to survive you should stick with us." She sounded confident as she walked past him, and headed for a door at the end of a long hall.

David stopped to look at her, and felt a wave of relief wash over him.

_Finally, someone else steps into the role of leader,_ he thought. He felt like he could finally breathe again.

**…high above the city streets, in a helicopter carrying a large package…**

"We've almost reached the drop zone sir," the pilot stated, "Dropping the package in 3…2…1…"

The pilot pressed a small button on his console and the hooks carrying the Exterminator released, the package exploding mid air to drop the bio weapon naked into the streets of Raccoon.

_Poor bastards_, the pilot thought to himself as the gargantuan creature began it's descent on the city, _God bless the souls of those who have to face off against that thing…_

**…meanwhile, on the city streets outside of the Hospital, near the Park…**

"What do you think that chopper was for?" Mark asked, still gazing at the sky. He was losing hope fast. That was the fourth chopper he had seen that wasn't meant for rescue. He was almost positive that he wasn't going to make it out of the city alive. He had made it through Nam, but a city crawling with mutated beasts and monsters that feed on the flesh of the living? He didn't think so…

_Thud… thud… thud…_

"I have a feeling we're about to find out." George mumbled, stepping backwards towards the park. There were footsteps, and a large shadow descending on them. It was coming from the hospital's direction.

"Shit…" Alyssa said shakily, becoming increasingly uneasy.

Mark grabbed a hold of his pistol and aimed.

"You folks get a move on, I'm gonna-"

_Sssssss! THUD!_

A high pitched slithering noise was heard and Mark's voice cut short, his group stood around him mortified. A tentacle had shot long range from around the corner and lodged through his skull, slamming hard into the brick wall of the Clock tower behind them.

"Oh God!" Alyssa screamed.

Mark stood still, blood trickling down the middle of his face where the tentacle was still suspended. He stood perfectly still, and then the gun dropped from his hand. The thick tentacle didn't move, instead it just _writhed_ inside of Mark's skull, holding him up.

And then, in what seemed like a fraction of a second, it retracted and flew neatly back around the corner of the Hospital. Mark stood still, and then suddenly dropped to the ground, blood and gore spewing from the thick hole in his head.

Alyssa and Yoko were screaming; George was standing still. All of them were staring at the elderly man's slumped over body in the middle of the street. The silent assassin that had gotten him, _the Exterminator_, had taken its first victim. Mark was dead.

**…just a few feet away, still on the ****Raccoon****City**** streets…**

Alyssa stood in utter shock. But she knew that her life depended on getting out of there as fast as she could. She ducked and rolled for Mark's fallen pistol and stood up again.

"Let's go! Into the park!" She screamed, and suddenly she felt a _WOOSH_ of air. Instinct told her to drop, and she did, just in time to see three razor sharp _objects_ fly through the air and smack against the same wall that the tentacle had lodged. The bricks crumbled on impact, and Alyssa knew it was time to move.

She grabbed Yoko's arm and motioned for George to follow. She raced up the marble steps, and grabbed the metal door handle to the gated Raccoon City Park. She swung it open and rushed inside, Yoko and George at her sides. She felt terrible leaving the dead security guard behind, but if she wanted to live she knew that she had to keep moving. Whatever that thing was back there, it was out for blood. _Her_ blood.

They turned a few corners of a dirt path and Alyssa came to a rickety old suspension bridge.

_KACHANK!_

"Shit! It's here!" Yoko screamed, and Alyssa turned around to see a huge creature come barreling around the corner at incredible speed.

It was at least seven or eight feet tall, obviously of some kind of Tyrant origin. It was completely muscle, his ripped torso coated with bullets and ammunition for the array of guns strapped to its legs. It was wearing what looked like a pair of thick, black cargo pants and combat boots. It was completely pale, its skin a dark gray shade with purple veins and bulging muscle. It was bald, with beady black eyes and thin lips. The strangest thing about the creature was a pair of wings on its back, giving it the ability to fly. The thick tentacle thing seemed to be wound up in a cavity in its chest, still bleeding from taking the life of Mark.

"What the _fuck_ is that thing?" Alyssa screamed, holding up both pistols.

She didn't care. She just knew it needed to _die_.

_BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!_

She let off about ten rounds into the creature before it leapt into the night sky. Alyssa turned her head up just in time to see it extend its wings, spreading them about ten feet wide as it glided through the air, doing a helix with a backdrop of the moon. As it was finishing the loop, Alyssa felt she knew what it was going to do next.

"Get out of the way! Now!"

It headed straight for the ground, arms pointing downward. It smashed into the dirt just as the trio leapt onto the suspension bridge. The posts holding the bridge up ruptured and sent the group sliding down into the river. Alyssa felt as if time was running out, because on top of everything now they would have to wade through waist deep water to the river's edge to get out. The Exterminator would have plenty of time to plan and execute it's next attack.

But then something miraculous happened. Just as Alyssa thought everything was over, the ground that the Exterminator had smashed began to rise again, and another one of Umbrella's bio weapons emerged from the earth. The Grave Digger, a large worm like monster, rose to full height and opened it's giant mouth. The Exterminator had awoken it from it's deep slumber, and the Grave Digger would have no mercy.

The Exterminator jumped to the side as the Grave Digger slammed it's teeth into the dirt in hopes of taking a bite out of its prey. Alyssa, Yoko and George wasted no time. They emerged from the water and climbed out onto the other side of the river. Leaving the demons to fight, they raced against time to the other side of the park and headed into the darkness, unaware of the terrors that lie ahead. The Exterminator wasn't finished with them yet.

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	13. Round Two

**Chapter 10**

**Round Two**

The Exterminator leapt into the air and withdrew two semi automatic pistols strapped to his ankles. Still hovering mid air, it cocked the weapons and unloaded a barrage of bullets on the Grave Digger. The worm like creature spewed dirt from the ground and opened its giant mouth, hissing and spraying acid in all directions.

Dodging another brutal attack, the Exterminator dove back to the ground and rolled, still spraying bullets as it sped around the Digger and came at it from behind. The Exterminator took out a large saw like knife and gouged deep into the slimy skin of the Grave Digger. Blood erupted from the wound, and the Grave Digger screamed in pain.

In one last final attempt to destroy its attacker, the Digger lunged in violent fashion and wrapped itself around the Exterminator like a boa constrictor suffocating its prey. It wrapped itself tightly, but it still wasn't enough to destroy the Exterminator.

Unleashing one last attack, spikes erupted from the skin of the Tyrant-esque assassin and pierced through the thick blubber of the Grave Digger. Buckets of blood spewed in all directions, spilling into the clear water of the river below. The Exterminator threw the limp body of the creature into the river and watched as it was slowly carried away.

It had a mission. The humans would not escape alive.

**…deeper into the Park…**

Alyssa had never run so fast in her life. She sprinted through the howling woods and finally came to a small rest area, with a small park bench and garbage can. The body of a UBCS soldier was slumped over in the corner, and a stench was coming from his blood stained jacket. The expression on his face… everything about him…

_Oh God…_

Alyssa felt herself beginning to break down. Tears started to run down her face but she wiped them away. She couldn't let her partners see them…not after what happened to Mark. George and Yoko were already beginning to weaken, she could almost sense it. She couldn't let herself get that way. She was stronger than that.

She put her hand on the door in front of her, unknowing of what it led to next. The darkness of the park disappeared though, and an illuminated wooden structure appeared in front of her.

There was a set of wooden steps in front of her, covered in cobwebs and littered with blood and trash.

She turned back to look at Yoko and George. They looked at her like she was their leader, and she sensed that she had filled that role. If it wasn't for her quick wits and her sharp actions, they probably all would have died back in the park during the Exterminator fight.

_The Exterminator…_

The name seemed fitting. It had _exterminated_ Mark, and was going to kill that giant worm like thing back there.

"Are you guys ready?" Alyssa said confidently, pressing her finger tips tightly against the thick guns she held in her hands. George and Yoko nodded, and Alyssa turned back around. She pushed herself up the steps and kept her gaze forward. She wanted to make sure she could defend her team if it was needed… as much as she didn't like to call herself dependent on other people; she was beginning to realize that she would never be able to make it out of this nightmare alone.

**…at the doors of the Dead Factory…**

Ada Wong repelled down the wall of the Dead Factory and landed on the dirt covered cement below. She had retrieved most of the samples Wesker had asked her to. Now all she needed to do was get a hold of Ben Bertolluci…after that, she would get herself out of Raccoon and relax on a beach somewhere. The thought of it made her smile.

"Hey! Hey you!"

The smile faded as she heard voices behind her. She had been facing the thick double doors of the Factory, and hadn't turned around to scope out the wooden suspension bridge. The moment of weakness had blown her cover. It was probably just some civilian, searching for a way out. She turned around and saw-

saw three people, two women and one man, racing towards her, unaware of the gargantuan creature that lurked right behind them.

"Get down!" She cried, withdrawing her TMP from her waist and aiming. She could sense the fear in their hearts as two of them hit the floor, but the Asian girl… she took too long…

The Exterminator came down hard, gashing into her arm with a giant knife. The girl screamed, and toppled over the edge of the bridge. The other two started screaming as the beast cowered in front of them.

Ada ran forward, aiming and shooting her automatic weapon as she did. She ran as fast as she could, because for some reason she felt sympathy for their weathered faces. The Exterminator looked at Ada with beady eyes, and a half snicker appeared on it's face.

Ada leapt into the air and flew over the monster, time seeming to slow as she did. She was airborne, vertical, still aiming down and firing as she did. She caught a glimpse of the reporter's tag, "Alyssa Ashcroft"…_one of the reporters who had been exposing Umbrella's experiments for a few months now_…

_Tatatatatatatatatttatttaaattatataatata!_

A chunk of the monsters head blew off, exposing tender brain tissue. Blood sprayed, and she saw Alyssa and the man she was with take off running back towards the dead factory.

_I wouldn't go in there if I was you…_

But she didn't have time to warn them. She just kept firing as she started to land, and just as she did she hit the ground and swept her left foot under the knees of the Exterminator, bringing him to the ground.

The whole attack lasted for about five seconds, her speed brutal and deadly. The Exterminator stood up and connected his fist with her face, sending her backwards. Ada stood up, clutching her dislocated jaw in pain. She tossed the spent TMP over the bridge and ran forward, connecting a fan kick to the bleeding face of the monster. It stumbled backwards, catching it's weight against the rail of the bridge.

"Come on…" she whispered, as she regained her composure. The Exterminator looked at her again, snarled and ran forward. Ada dropped backwards and let it run for her, jabbing her foot into its chest and sending it flying into the air. The weight of the monster was almost too much for her, but she pulled the energy from somewhere deep inside. She sent it flying up into the air and over the railing of the bridge.

She rolled as it flew threw the air. Ada back flipped back to her feet and looked over the edge. The Exterminator was still falling, deep into the cavern below. The monster impaled onto a large rock below, blood erupting like a fountain from its chest.

The Asian assassin was breathing heavily; sweat pouring down her slim face. Her body was aching, her face pounding from where the monster had connected it's fist. But it was dead now, or at least she hoped. It would be suspended on that rock long enough for her to get out of there. She stood up and collected herself.

In an instant she was gone, racing back through the park. She didn't want to waste her time talking to the civilians she had rescued. Too much explaining she would have to do. She just wanted to finish her mission. That beach was sounding excellent right about now.

**…under the suspension bridge…**

Yoko clutched her arm tightly as it bled non stop from the wound she incurred. She had witnessed most of the battle between the monster and the woman, who fought almost robotically, and had seen the monster fall to its death. It had impaled on a rock below where she stood. Yoko knew she was lucky. When she fell over the bridge she had landed on a grass patch near what seemed like a sewer entrance.

Yoko stood up and looked at the large metallic looking alcove in front of her. It smelled absolutely terrible, but she knew that if she ever wanted to be reunited with her friends again she would have to keep moving.

She pulled herself up into the sludge and moved forward, deep into the underground sewer system of Raccoon City.

**…meanwhile, in Birkin's Underground Laboratory…**

Annette and Monica were face to face. Annette knew that the bitch had the G Virus sample in her carrying case. She knew that she was going to sell it. She knew she had to get it back.

"So…here we are." Annette purred, holding a gun against the researcher's neck, "What do you have in that capsule?"

"Annette…" Monica hesitated, "Please…I can split the profits with you. 50/50. I promise, we can make billions off of the G Virus project. Please just take the gun away."

"I don't think so, you rat. You were going to sell my husbands work, take credit for his legacy. How dare you think that I would ever go along with such a plot?" Annette's tone became almost psychotic, "Who do you think you are?"

Annette felt tears run down her face. But they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of anger. She hated Monica, hated her with such a fiery passion. She was going to kill her, she was going to kill her and feed her to the hunters and lickers and zombies that prowled the halls of the dead facility.

As Annette became lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Monica's deception. The young researcher took Annette's weak moment at hand and grabbed the gun from her. As the two women struggled for the weapon, a shot rang off and blasted throughout the hollow corridor. Ice shattered from the barren walls and was sent spiraling down into the deep dark shaft below.

"No!" Annette screamed as Monica fought with her for the gun. The G Virus case was sent crashing to the floor, and Annette's attention was again diverted. A quick jab to the face and Annette was pushed into the railing of the frozen corridor. Monica hit her again, this time with the butt of the pistol, and Annette was sent spiraling over the edge to her icy death.

**…elsewhere, on the ****Raccoon****City**** streets…**

Kevin and Cindy had located a small police car with the keys still in it. They had driven through the underground parking garage and had to drive through the closed gate before they could make it back out onto the streets. Kevin was driving, Cindy in the passenger seat looking uneasy. He felt bad for the girl, as she seemed nervous around him.

Kevin didn't feel as though he was intimidating her, but as if she was unsure of herself around him. Did she like him? He didn't know, and he knew that now was not the time to be a flirt. He just wanted to make it out of the city alive, and getting girls was definitely not on the agenda for today.

They drove through Raccoon City's desolate streets, and nothing but death and decay riddled the entire town. It was barren, empty, and full of nothingness. Kevin felt sad. Everything that had made him want to come to Raccoon City in the first place was gone.

They turned down a small alleyway and when they emerged, Kevin noticed a luminescent sign in the distance.

"Raccoon City Zoo…" Kevin murmured, "Care for a stroll through the jungle, Cindy?" He looked at her and smiled, almost laughing, "Maybe we can radio for help there or something."

"Maybe there's a rescue planned." Cindy said softly, "Let's check it out."

Without hesitation, Kevin drove on. The chance of a possible rescue was too good to pass up.

**…meanwhile, at the Umbrella Research and ****Development****Center****, in Downtown Raccoon…**

"Here we go…" Carter said, as he pressed the MO Disk into place, "This Tyrant should help clear out the hunters that are prowling about the facility, and make it easy for us to get the Daylight Sample in the laboratory."

"So it is true…" David growled, "Umbrella is responsible for what is going on in this city."

He was angry. If it was true, then he was going to make sure when he got out of there alive that Umbrella would pay.

"Yes…" Linda said, "The Corporation had an accident a few months back. There was a spill, a virus was leaked, and it managed to make its way into the city. You heard about the mansion disaster right? Well that was when the virus got out. It only took a few months before it got into the city."

"Well… I'm not going to let this little town be the end of me." David said deeply, "I'm not gonna die here."

"You wont. We just need to get that sample and get back to the helicopter. We'll be out of here soon, my friend."

The giant capsule in front of them let out a puff of steam. A giant, humanoid creature dressed in a long black trench coat emerged, and stepped out on large combat boots. It was at least eight feet tall, bald, and fitted with beady black eyes. It walked forward, and David, Carter and Linda stepped briskly out of its way. It punched through the thick glass window and leapt into the facility below.

"It shouldn't be used as a weapon, Carter." Linda said.

"Don't worry; if tall, dark and ugly down there ever turns on us, I've equipped it with a little something special." Carter pointed to a small switch he carried in his hand, "If he so much as looks at us the wrong way…then Mr. X is ground zombie meat."

The room fell silent as a look of pure psychosis befell Carter.

Linda looked uneasy, "Right…let's just get that sample and get the hell out of here."

She moved towards the door as Mr. X began slaughtering the 'hunters', as David had heard Linda call them.

He walked behind her, feeling more comfortable now than he ever felt with Carter. David just wanted to be on that helicopter as fast as he could, and if it meant helping her get that Daylight sample, then it was going to be what he had to do.

**…meanwhile, in Birkin's underground laboratory…**

Annette awoke a few hours later, badly bruised and barely alive. She had landed a few floors down, on one of the platforms below. The fall had to have been at least thirty or forty feet, but somehow she had managed to survive. She was bleeding from at least three or four large gashes all over her body, and she knew that she would die soon if she didn't get another 'fix' of her morphine.

"Just…" Annette gasped, "…pull it together."

She stood up and moved on, realizing that she had dropped the G Virus sample as well as her gun. Everything was falling apart.

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


End file.
